President Obama did exactly what the constitution requires – before taking military action, consult with Congress. And before he made the decision to do just that, Republicans in Congress were quick to point out that they should be consulted first.
At least two separate letters containing hundreds of congressional signatures made their way to the president, demanding that Congress first debate whether to take military action in Syria.
The president listened and decided to do what is constitutionally required. But his loudest critics in the Republican party are now calling him weak.
They now wonder why Mr. Obama is coming to Congress first. Amazingly, these same “protectors of the Constitution” would rather the president drop bombs in Syria, without their congressional input.
Senator John McCain for example, would have preferred the president took matters into his own hands, bypass his constitutional responsibilities to Congress, and fired missiles into a foreign country.
President Bashar Assad will be ‘euphoric’ about Obama’s decision to wait for Congress over Syria, according to Senator John McCain.
Referring to Obama’s famous remark when he said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a red line, McCain said:, ‘He didn’t say, “It’s a red line – and by the way I’m going to have to seek the approval of Congress.” He said it was a red line, and that the United States of America would act.
‘And that’s a big difference, and that’s one of the reasons why this is so problematic.’
Obama is hoping one of Congress’s most intractable foreign policy hawks will help sell the idea of a U.S. military intervention in Syria to a nation deeply scarred by more than a decade of war.
Having announced over the weekend that he will seek congressional approval for military strikes against the Assad regime, the Obama administration is now trying to rally support among Americans and their congressmen and senators.
