Rand Paul on Libya

Sen. Rand Paul has long complained about unconstitutional wars, and in this release he schools the Obama administration on Libya:

The Obama Administration has failed miserably in its attempt to justify their unconstitutional war in Libya. Their attempt yesterday to convince Congress that we are in fact not engaged in hostilities was breathtaking in its implications for both Libya and for future presidential war authority.

“The argument that our military is not engaged in hostilities because the Libyan military is unable to effectively retaliate has two major problems. First, according to the Administration’s report, attacking Libyan air defense is one of the primary roles our military is playing. Of course they aren’t shooting back well, we blew up their air defense system.

“If you take the Administration’s logic to its natural, if extreme-sounding, conclusion, the bigger problem is this: Under their logic, the President could attack a country, even with nuclear weapons, and not consider it to be a war needing Congressional approval if the country is unable to retaliate. This policy completely violates his constitutional authority. It also sends a dangerous signal to rogue nations and schoolyard bullies alike: If we hit you hard enough that you can’t hit back, it doesn’t count as an attack.”