Rand Paul: “I very much thank the majority leader for allowing this important debate to occur. During his campaign, Candidate…”

“I very much thank the majority leader for allowing this important debate to occur. During his campaign, Candidate Barrack Obama said no President should unilaterally initiate military conflict without Congressional authority. I agree with that statement. It is a very important constitutional principle and something that I think deserves debate. I think the most important thing we do as representatives is voting on whether to go to war. If Congress does not vote to go to war or does not vote on the notion of going to war, we would have an unlimited Presidency, and this is a very dangerous notion. I would take this position no matter what the party affiliation were of the President because I believe very strongly in the constitutional checks and balances. We will vote today on the President's own words verbatim. During the election, the President said: ``The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the Nation.'' Clearly, the circumstances in Libya do not rise to this, and I think this vote is incredibly important. Madison wrote that: The Constitution supposes what history demonstrates. That the executive is the branch most interested in war and most prone to it. Therefore, the Constitution has with studied care given that power to the legislature. ``Don't tread on me'' was a motto and a rallying cry for our Founding Fathers.…”