(CNSNews.com) - On three national television programs on Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry repeated an argument President Barack Obama had made on Saturday when Obama announced that he wanted Congress to authorize him to use military force in Syria.
The president does not need authorization from Congress to initiate acts of war, Kerry said.
“He has the right to do that no matter what Congress does,” Kerry said on CNN’s “State of the Union. “That is his right and he asserted that in his comments yesterday.”
“The President has the right and he has asserted that right that he could do what’s necessary to protect the national security of the United States at any point in time,” said Kerry.
The secretary of state made the same argument on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I said that the President has the authority to act, but the Congress is going to do what’s right here,” Kerry told host David Gregory.
Kerry also made the argument on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopouos."
“The President has the right--as you know, George,” said Kerry. “The President of the United States has the right to take this action, doesn’t have to go to Congress, but he does so with the belief – and this is why I think it’s courageous--the president knows that America is stronger when we act in unity.”
In a speech delivered in the White House Rose Garden on Saturday, Obama first said that he had decided to take military action in Syria. Then he said that he had also decided to seek congressional authorization for that action. Then he said that he did not need congressional authorization, and could unilaterally order the U.S. military to take action in Syria without congressional authorization.
Via: CNS News
No comments:
Post a Comment