Politics

TheDC on TV: Why didn’t Obama seek congressional authorization before instituting red line?

The Daily Caller dailycaller.com
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Daily Caller Senior Editor Jamie Weinstein questioned whether President Obama could handle a 3:00 p.m. call, much less a 3:00 a.m. call, after his speech Saturday saying he would bring the question of intervention in Syria to Congress.

“I just think this is entirely bizarre. I personally am a little bit skeptical about military intervention in Syria, but if you believe this is necessary to enforce international norms, why didn’t the president seek authorization from Congress before he set out his red line?” Weinstein asked during an appearance on Fox News’ “America News HQ” Saturday.

“Why didn’t he seek authorization after the first chemical attack? Why didn’t seek authorization 10 days ago — call Congress back into session? Why didn’t he call Congress back into session today? It seems to me that he is punting the ball down the road because he doesn’t want to actually make a decision on this.”

“You remember, Hillary Clinton said — she wondered during the 2008 campaign whether President Obama could handle a 3:00 a.m. call,” Weinstein added later in the interview. “Now I think there is a question whether he can handle a 3:00 p.m. call. This was not something that came upon him in the middle of the night. He knew about this red line since he issued it back in August [2012] and he hasn’t sought to get authorization since then.”

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