On the recordMay 17, 2012
We hear repeatedly people say persons are entitled to their constitutional rights, and, yes, they are. When I was in the Army for 4 years, I was entitled to constitutional rights, but I had no right to freedom of speech. I had no right to freedom of assembly. There were a lot of people in the military that would rather not assemble at 5 a.m. in the morning, but you don't have that constitutional right. The same way with immigrants. Immigrants do not have all of the rights under the Constitution that others do. What we're saying is that people who are terrorists and kill Americans on American soil should not have more rights than an immigrant who is here peaceably but that is subject to the laws and subject to detention without going to an article III court. There are constitutional rights, yes, but not everyone under the Constitution has the same rights. Ask somebody in the military. So I implore my colleagues, please do not give foreign terrorists on our soil more rights than our own military has under the Constitution.
