Rand Paul: “it is currently an accepted cliche to say foreign policy is a Presidential matter and Congress should not meddle.…”

“it is currently an accepted cliche to say foreign policy is a Presidential matter and Congress should not meddle. Frequently we hear the pleading to remain bipartisan with no dissent, especially when troops are placed in harm's way. Yet no place in the Constitution do we find any such explicit instruction. Instead, we find no mention of foreign policy. To the contrary, we find strict prohibitions placed on the President when it comes to dealing with foreign nations. The Constitution is clear. No treaties can be entered into without the consent of the Senate. No war may be fought without the declaration of war by the Congress. No money shall be spent overseas without Congress first raising the money and then authorizing it and appropriating these funds for specific purposes. Since the Constitution does not even assume a standing army, let alone stationing troops in peacetime in over 100 countries, with CIA clandestine activities in even more, the current foreign policy that has evolved over the past 100 years would surely be unrecognizable by the authors of that document. The founders of this country were opposed to standing armies for fear they would be carelessly used. They were right. The U.S. record of foreign intervention and its failures have not yet prompted a serious discussion of the need for an overall reassessment of this dangerous and out-of-control policy.”