War Power Patriotism

Friends all tried to warn me
But I held my head up high
All the time they warned me
But I only passed them by
--Mike Curb Congregation

With President Trump authorizing a drone strike last week that killed a high level Iran military official, calls have once again surfaced about restraining presidential authority to act with military force. Typically, these calls come from the opposing party.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Democrats are amassing against Donald Trump, just as it was no shock to see Republicans protesting against Barack Obama's liberal use of drone strikes. Hypocrisy here has been evident for a long time.

Really worth watching the full six minutes of @Senmikelee's comments. He gives a great quick class on the Constitution and War Powers and how failure to follow the Constitution is why we've had a disconnect between the people and the wars we find ourselves in. https://t.co/xN8ZVj3DGm

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) January 8, 2020

On the other hand, it is refreshing to watch a small group of congressmen exhibit what is a rare trait in Washington: consistency. At the forefront of this group has been Rand Paul, accompanied by Mike Lee and Thomas Massie. This trio has been unwavering in their opposition to the clearly unconstitutional practice of ceding war powers to the president. They opposed it under Obama just as they oppose it currently under Trump.

I agree with @RandPaul and @SenMikeLee that the Constitution calls for Congress to debate and decide whether to further escalate the military conflict with Iran. The three of us have been consistent on this point regardless of which party has been in the White House. https://t.co/cILen9foXF

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 9, 2020

The War Machine reflexively calls this group unpatriotic and claims that they are helping the enemy by the opposing the president. As Kat Timpf notes, however, there is nothing unpatriotic about standing up for the Constitution. Our founding ancestors wrote the Constitution in rejection to the English model--a model which granted a single individual discretionary power to put a country at war.

"Both parties are at fault here," concluded Paul. "It isn't just Republicans. President Obama usurped the war powers. Bush did it. Truman, LBJ, you name it. It's hard to find a president who hasn't done it, but Congress has abdicated that role." https://t.co/R61xijl40X

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 10, 2020

The Constitution clearly places authority for declaring war with Congress. Congress has clearly abdicated its role in a bipartisan manner.