On the recordMarch 6, 2013
To the Senator's last point, I am reading from a letter dated March 4. It is from the Attorney General to Senator Paul, and he says: The question you have posed is therefore entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no President will ever have to confront. But he goes on to say, in response to Senator Paul's question: It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States. In other words, to the Senator's point, on one hand he said it was a hypothetical question, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no President would ever have to confront; and then, on the other hand, he said it is possible to imagine a scenario under which it would happen. That would appear to cast a further lack of clarity on something that should be a straightforward yes or no.
