Friday on CNN’s “New Day,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), the 2016 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, told show host Chris Cuomo there was “no legal justification” for President Donald Trump’s action against Syria a night earlier, which was a military strike against a Syrian air base in response to the nation’s use of chemical weapons earlier in the week.
Kaine said although he agreed from a “moral standpoint” with the decision, there was no “legal justification” for Trump’s decision because he did not come to Congress first.
“There is no legal justification for this,” Kaine said. “I think from a moral standpoint — absolutely, I agree with Senator Rubio. It was the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do — to try to deter Bashar al-Assad from war crimes and remember, I voted to use military action against Syria in August of 2013. Senator Rubio voted against it back then when Bashar al-Assad did the same thing. But I said the president has to come to Congress. And Donald J. Trump, citizen Trump back then said exactly the same thing. A president has to go to Congress. He should not have done this without coming to Congress.”
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