Obama only pres not to comply with war powers act

[GISG]

(CNSNews.com) - Louis Fisher, a scholar in residence at the Constitution Project who served for 40 years as a constitutional law expert at the Library of Congress, says Americans and members of Congress should understand that President Barack Obama committed a “very grave offense” against the Constitution in taking military action in Libya without congressional authorization.

“I am not going to recommend that the House Judiciary Committee hold impeachment hearings, but I would like members of Congress and the public to say that nothing would be more impeachable than a President who takes the country to war without coming to Congress, who does it unilaterally,” Fisher told CNSNews.com’s Online With Terry Jeffrey....

Fisher, whose book Presidential War Power is a definitive scholarly account of the drafting of the constitutional war power and its historical interpretation and implementation, scoffs at Obama’s argument that the United Nations, which the U.S. joined through a treaty ratified by the Senate, can usurp the war power the Constitution gives to both houses of Congress.

“He said I have authorization from the Security Council. It is not authorization under U.S. constitutional law,” said Fisher.

“First of all, I would like to make it clear that in the U.N. Charter, you cannot have the president and the Senate through the treaty process--the UN Charter or NATO--you cannot have those two actors take the power of Congress and the House of Representatives and give it to either the Security Council or to NATO countries,” said Fisher.

“And I think even people who read presidential power broadly know that that is not possible,” he said.

“You cannot use a treaty to amend the Constitution,” he explained.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...resident-who-t

[Sam]

Pretty well reflects President Obama's world view and goals as far as I understand them. He wants the U.S. to deteriorate to a second rate socialist country which has surrendered its sovereignty to the authority of a world government and world court.

[Truthseeker]

It's only a problem if Bush would have done it.

[scotty]

I thought this was not the first time a president has done this ? Thought I read that somewhere, will try to find it.

As little as I care for Obama, I believe this is little to do about nothing. Had we went in and put troops on the ground or sustained our presence there then I would have a problem with this. All we done was kick start a campaign with air power then handed the riegns over to the UN.

As far as NATO goes, I thought the military assets contributed by member countries were under the power of NATO.

[GISG]

Originally Posted by scotty

I thought this was not the first time a president has done this ? Thought I read that somewhere, will try to find it.

As little as I care for Obama, I believe this is little to do about nothing. Had we went in and put troops on the ground or sustained our presence there then I would have a problem with this. All we done was kick start a campaign with air power then handed the riegns over to the UN.

As far as NATO goes, I thought the military assets contributed by member countries were under the power of NATO.

I'm not familiar with the details, but I think you're thinking of Truman and S. Korea.
However, our presence is still involved in this "days only" action towards Libya. Had GW dared to even have a mere passing thought of committing military assests without congressional approval, we'd still be hearing of it.
Nevertheless, I take the word of this experienced constitutional lawyer to be meaningful and we should pay attention, imo.

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by scotty

I thought this was not the first time a president has done this ? Thought I read that somewhere, will try to find it.

As little as I care for Obama, I believe this is little to do about nothing. Had we went in and put troops on the ground or sustained our presence there then I would have a problem with this. All we done was kick start a campaign with air power then handed the riegns over to the UN.

As far as NATO goes, I thought the military assets contributed by member countries were under the power of NATO.

I'm with you.

I've heard repeatedly that President Obama is not the first President to not go along with War Powers.



But this is yet another example of Obama being criticized if he does and criticized if he doesn't.

First he was criticized for NOT responding to the uprisings in the Middle East.

Then, as soon as he made a move in Libya, he was criticized for doing that.



Politics at its best!

[Jermyn Davidson]

Interesting quote:



"History comes full circle. In the aftermath of Vietnam and the midst of Watergate, liberal Democrats passed the War Powers Act as part of a broad assault on presidential powers. The act reached the end of the line with a liberal Democrat in the White House, who wanted to avail himself of the full sweep of his powers. No doubt, Nixon wouldn’t just relish the result, but appreciate the irony."


http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...ugh-rich-lowry




In 1973, Republican President Nixon vetoed the War Powers Act, calling the War Powers Act unconstitutional.

However, the liberal Democrats of his day overrode the President's veto.

[Jermyn Davidson]

And I just found that Republican Speaker Boehner conceded on June 1, 2011 that, "“technically” President Obama has not violated the War Powers Act by involving U.S. troops in combat in Libya.

the link:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...-war-power-act


So there ya have it-- the President is NOT breaking the law.

[canam]

A blog is just someones musings JD, not news or facts ,this isnt a legit news link.just some closet liberal.

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

Interesting quote:



"History comes full circle. In the aftermath of Vietnam and the midst of Watergate, liberal Democrats passed the War Powers Act as part of a broad assault on presidential powers. The act reached the end of the line with a liberal Democrat in the White House, who wanted to avail himself of the full sweep of his powers. No doubt, Nixon wouldn’t just relish the result, but appreciate the irony."


http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...ugh-rich-lowry




In 1973, Republican President Nixon vetoed the War Powers Act, calling the War Powers Act unconstitutional.

However, the liberal Democrats of his day overrode the President's veto.

bump for Canam.


Also know that Boehner has in the past questioned and voted for the repeal of this same law that he now accuses the President of breaking-- hypocrisy.