While some members of Congress, like Kentucky senator Rand Paul, are questioning President Trump’s legal authority for launching a military strike Thursday night against the Syrian regime, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says Trump was acting well within his inherent constitutional authority.
“There is no congressional authorization. It doesn’t come under the War Powers Act, where you can act, then notify Congress. So the only authority this could come under is Article II [of the Constitution], the inherent power of the president,” Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland told reporters Friday afternoon. “I think his reaction to the use of chemical agents by Syria, from my first review, looks like a reasonable exercise of presidential power.”
Cardin said he received notice of the military action against Syria “about two hours before the president spoke to the nation.” The Maryland Democrat also expressed dismay that “Russia misled us” about a 2013 deal that Syria would remove all its chemical weapons: “Everyone thought that negotiation was successful. My own view now is Russia misled us. We knew we couldn’t trust Syria, but we had Russia supervising them.”
Several other Democratic senators joined Cardin in backing Trump’s strike against Syria.
“I think he was well within his powers,” said Joe Manchin of West Virginia. “I am very much supportive of what was done last night.”
“The actions the president took last night were appropriate,” said Virginia senator Mark Warner. “But it begs the question of: What next?”
“I support this action by President Trump,” said Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, adding that he would encourage the president to “work with us to develop a strategy and a path forward that we can articulate to the American people.”
“I believe this was an appropriate use of military action to punish the Assad regime for use of chemical weapons,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. “But any further military action, especially as it relates to ground troops, would require a full congressional debate.”
In floor remarks, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer also backed the attack on Assad’s forces as “the right thing to do.”
“I salute the professionalism and skill of our Armed Forces who took action last night. The people of Syria have suffered untold horrors and violence at the hands of Bashar al-Assad and his supporters in Tehran and Putin’s Russia,” Schumer said. “Making sure that Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do. It is now incumbent on the Trump administration to come up with a coherent strategy and consult with Congress before implementing it.”
