Sen. Rand Paul called President Obama’s justification for military action against ISIS “absurd” multiple times in an interview on Fox News.
Paul has characterized Obama’s war as “illegal” in the past, and has proposed a formal declaration of war that would limit military action to one year and allow for ground troops in certain situations.
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Paul stressed that he does not believe Obama has authority to attack ISIS under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force in Afghanistan and the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq.
“Both of those I’d say would be absurd contentions,” he said. “Basically, in 2001 we voted for an authorization that said the people who attacked us on 9/11, that we would go after them. Well, this group wasn’t in existence then, and this group isn’t even allied with Al Qaeda. This group is at odds with Al Qaeda. So I think it’s absurd…It’s absurd to try and say a linkage to a war started 15 years ago.”
“I don’t want perpetual war,” said Paul, reiterating that his proposal would only authorize one year of war.
Paul also criticized John Kerry’s defense of Obama’s actions: “He said — which I think is absurd — he said, ‘Well if [the 2001 authorization] doesn’t do it, then the president has Article 2 authority to do whatever he wants. I disagree with that. And I think most constitutional scholars do. And I think most of the people in the American public do not think the president has unlimited power to go to war.”
Watch the clip below:
(h/t Business Insider)
