On Thursday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) explained to host Sean Hannity how he saw the unfolding turmoil in Iraq and how it became this unstable, to which he partially blamed on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s resistance to having U.S. troops in his country.
Paul said that before further action is taken by the United States, including air strikes, which he called a form of war, authorization from Congress is required by the Constitution and therefore such authorization should be sought.
Partial transcript as follows:
HANNITY: Let me ask you this — all right, so moving…
PAUL: It is hard for me to imagine American soldiers fighting alongside Iranian soldiers in Iraq.
HANNITY: No, that’s…
PAUL: I can’t fathom that.
HANNITY: That’s John Kerry madness, in my view. Here’s the question. If Rand Paul were president of the United States, what would Rand Paul do right now? Would you allow air strikes? Would you send in soldiers? The president said today 300 people, et cetera. Would you support that?
PAUL: I would follow the Constitution, and the Constitution says that Congress should vote on going to war, and that there should be congressional authorization.
HANNITY: What would you…
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: What would you want?
PAUL: I don’t agree that a 1-year-old authorization is sufficient…
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: … agree with that, too.
PAUL: … of the American people.
HANNITY: What would you want to do, though?
PAUL: The American people…
HANNITY: What would you ask for if you were president?
PAUL: I would not — I would in no way, shape or form put American troops into that mess because I do not want American troops…
HANNITY: OK, fair enough…
PAUL: … fighting alongside Iranian troops.
HANNITY: Air strikes? Air strikes?
PAUL: Air strikes? I have not — I have not ruled out completely. What I would say to air strikes is that they are a form of war, and if we are going to get into the middle, we have to know…
HANNITY: Authorization.
PAUL: … what are we going to be doing, what is our goal…
HANNITY: All right…
PAUL: … and that Congress should vote on it because that’s what the Constitution says.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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