On FOX News last night, Sen. Rand Paul explained that he found it “particularly disturbing” with the President’s ability to order a drone strike on American soil if he believed there was a threat to national security.
“The thing about the drone strike program is, we’re not talking about someone’s actively attacking America, we’re not talking about planes flying into the World Trade Center.” Paul explained, “What we’re talking about is you’re eating dinner in your house. you’re eating at a cafe or you’re walking down the road. That’s when these drone strikes can occur.”
Attorney General Eric Holder explained in a letter to Paul earlier this week that it was “possible,” for President Obama to “authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States,” citing the 9/11 terror attacks as an example.
Paul added that he was concerned that the President could authorize an attack on an American citizen on American soil.
“If you’re an American and you’re accused of a crime, one of the basic principles, one of the protections we’ve always had is, you get a trial. that’s an accusation,” he said. “You don’t get convicted without a trial.”
When President Obama was a senator, Paul noted, he believed that the American government should require a warrant before tapping the phone of an American citizen – adding that he agreed with that idea.
“So he wants a warrant to tap your phone, but no judicial oversight to kill an American?” Paul asked. “Listen to what his response is. His response is, we haven’t killed any Americans yet. We don’t intend to, but we might. And that’s pretty disturbing.”
