After receiving the following statement from Attorney General Eric Holder on Drone Strikes:“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States,” Holder replied in a letter yesterday to Paul’s question about whether Obama “has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”Paul decided he would filibuster over CIA Director nomination of John Brennan:
Paul said that all presidents must honor the Fifth Amendment. “No American should ever be killed in their house without warrant and some kind of aggressive behavior by them,” Paul said on the Senate floor. “To be bombed in your sleep? There’s nothing American about that . . . [Obama] says trust him because he hasn’t done it yet. He says he doesn’t intend to do so, but he might. Mr. President, that’s not good enough . . . so I’ve come here to speak for as long as I can to draw attention to something that I find to really be very disturbing.”
“I will not sit quietly and let him shred the Constitution,” Paul added.”No person will be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process,” he said, quoting the Fifth Amendment.Here is a related video of Paul on the Senate Floor:
The Fox All-Star panel had this to say:
4 comments:
The crux of Paul's argument is a matter of deadly force policy and adherence to the U.S. Constitution. All police agencies have a policy which says an officer is justified in killing someone if he feels his life or the life of others are put in imminent and immediate danger by an aggressor. No one generally disagrees with this kind of policy; but the administration is trying to alter the meaning of "imminent and immediate". Under our constitution, the criminal who is sitting at Starbucks having an coffee (and having working knowledge of an imminent deadly terrorist plot) should be arrested, not blown up. For that matter then, whats to keep the FBI from going into the Starbucks and simply shooting the "suspected" terrorist on the spot? We're talking about U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. Paul makes a lot of sense.
Not okay for the Pres. to act as judge, jury, and executioner of Americans on American soil. This is a system designed to be abused without checks and balances placed on it. We are, after all, talking about citizens here. I'm sure Holder's decision would be different if we were taking about illegals. THEY have rights, you know.
AZ
Both of the first two comments are great, "the crux of Paul's argument . . . and AZ. Thank you. I heartily agree.
Kudos for Rand Paul. The majority of the U.S. Senate isn't looking senatorial, they lack gravis, moral authority, and displayed a loss of high deliberative ability.
Also, thanks to Mike Lee and Ted Cruz. Go young Senators!
*lack gravitas
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