In his speech Wednesday night, President Barack Obama said he would welcome congressional support for his expanded-but-limited plan to destroy ISIS, the terror organization wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria. But Obama conspicuously did not say he would ask lawmakers to vote on whether to approve this military action. The White House insists that a previous congressional authorization approving military action against Al Qaeda and its affiliates allows Obama to go forward without seeking another explicit green light from Capitol Hill. And once again, the nation is witnessing another round in the decades-long tussle between the legislative branch and 1600 Pennsylvania over the limits of the presidents war-making power. Many lawmakers seem happy to give the president a pass because theyd rather not vote on the matter—especially in an election year. (As GOP Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia candidly said, A lot of people would like to stay on the sideline and say, Just bomb the place and tell us about it later. Its an election year. A lot of Democrats dont know how it would play in their party, and Republicans dont want to change anything. We like the path were on now. We can denounce it if it goes bad, and praise it if it goes well and ask what took him so long.) But an odd-couple coalition is developing within Congress: liberal Dems and conservative Republicans who are demanding that the president seek a congressional okay before escalating attacks against ISIS. Congress must weigh in when it comes to confronting ISIL through military action, Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the chairs of the 70-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a statement after Obamas speech. The voices of the American people must be heard during a full and robust debate in Congress on the use of military force. On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took a similar stance, though he was more vociferous. [I]t is unconstitutional what hes doing, the potential 2016 contender told Fox News Wednesday night. He tweeted later: The Constitution is very clear. The power to declare war resides in Congress. -Erika
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 19:00:02 +0000
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