Paul's beef with the "we have no intention to " position is that by extension, if there was an intention to, lethal force against a non-imminent threat on an american citizen could be unilaterally carried out by the decree of a president. He disagrees with this position, that the president has this constitutional right. He wants the administration to state clearly that they do not have this right. He mentions the Posse Comitatus Act over and over which prohibits the military from using force on American soil unless war or an insurrection is declared. If the military cannot operate within the boundaries of the the US (except for imminent threats), then these issues are police matters. There is a legal process for this. Paul describes the clear distinctions that separate military and police power from judicial power. Clearly and unequivocally, the precedent needs to be stated and defined. I think, and from what I gather, Paul has stated that this is obvious and not very complicated and can easily be stated. But for some reason the message keeps getting muddled by the administration, and we get the repeated "no intention to" answer over and over...when the dispute comes down to "have no constitutional right to". That is the disagreement.
Not Paul, but an interesting video nonetheless. Why can't Holder just say, "No, it doesn't." And then move on to his expansive reply. He dithers and vacillates and it just seems unnecessary to me.
Holder is not going to say 'no, it doesn't,' because it does. For one thing, the Coast Guard is explicitly excluded from the Posse Comitatus Act; for another, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 affirms the AUMF and identifies a class of persons against whom the Executive may act freely (members of Al Qaeda and suchlike); for a third, Posse Comitatus prohibits the use of the military (including the Coast Guard) to enforce the laws instead of the police, but (as you observe) this does not apply to situations of war or insurrection.
Ryan's letter to Brennan asked about whether the administration believes it 'has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial?' It says nothing about a 'non-imminent threat,' and Paul himself seems to appreciate that emergent threats like a hijacked airliner being used as a weapon would not fall within the scope of his inquiry.
Right, so I didn't explicitly state that the dispute is over force against US citizens. Unilateral lethal force against US citizens who do not pose an immediate threat without due process. 5th ammendment stuff. So yes, the answer is NO.
That does not make any difference. A US citizen could be affiliated with Al Qaeda, for example.
Also, you keep adding 'US citizens who do not pose an immediate threat' even though that was not part of Rand Paul's question in the letters to John Brennan, and it is nothing more than a straw man. If the person does not present an imminent threat the the use of military force would not be necessary, by definition.
For persons who do present a colorable threat to the US in concert with Al Qaeda or its affiliates, regardless of their citizenship or situation within or without the boundaries of the US, the President's determination is the due process. If you don't like this (which I quite understand) then what you want is to amend the AUMF. Because it very clearly grants such broad authority to the President.
Not Paul, but an interesting video nonetheless. Why can't Holder just say, "No, it doesn't." And then move on to his expansive reply. He dithers and vacillates and it just seems unnecessary to me.
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/03/06/cruz-goes-after-ho...