Last week, in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., asked Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, “do you think you can act without Congress to initiate a no-fly zone in Syria?”

Panetta — a former congressman — bobbed, weaved, and waffled: “Our goal would be to seek international permission and we would … come to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this ….”