Fresh off the heels of last week’s sure-to-be-historic filibuster, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) gave a rousing speech at Thursday’s Conservative Political Action Conference that once again ripped into US President Barack Obama.
Speaking on day one of the annual CPAC conference near Washington, DC, the libertarian-leaning senator briefly rehashed his arguments from last week’s 13-hour filibuster on the Senate floor by once again voicing his concern with Pres. Obama’s interpretation with the US Constitution.
“No one person gets to decide the law,” and, “no one person gets to decide your guilt or innocence,” said Sen. Paul. “My question to the president was about more than just killing Americans on American soil. My question was about whether presidential power has limits.”
In the wake of leaked Obama administration memos that justify the extrajudicial killing of Americans suspected of terrorism, Sen. Paul has demanded that the White House answer questions about the president’s authority when it comes to condemning his own citizens to death-by-drone without ever asking for a trial. Following last week’s marathon filibuster, the Department of Justice and White House alike both admitted that the president does not in fact have the authority to execute US citizens without guaranteeing them due process. Even after saying he was satisfied with that answer, though, Sen. Paul told the CPAC crowd this week that he has questions about the president’s own interpretation of his role as commander-in-chief.
