Not the only one
For a while, I thought I was the only right-leaning blogger who thought Bush stepped in it with this NSA spying stuff. Turns out, it’s not just me:
Again, my problem is not with the program (because I don’t know the details), but with the Administration’s justification of the program. It is simply too broad a reading of Article II. Article II does not vest all war powers (besides declaration of war) in the Executive. FISA should be viewed in light of Article I. Article I, Section 8 lists the powers of Congress. These include “To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water” (McCain Amendment) and also “To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces.”
January 5th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Even George Will has heartburn over this.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will122005.asp
January 5th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
The precedent for how Article II is being interpreted has already been set by Congress in their super-elastic interpretation of the Commerce Clause.
If Congress can interpret “regulate” from it’s original meaning of “set in good working order” to “control all aspects of and retain control over anything that ever moved in interstate commerce”, then I suppose it’s FAIR ENOUGH (in terms of the power struggle between the three branches of government) to interpret Article II to mean that the President has the authority to act as he sees fit with regards to any party named in a (de facto) declaration of war.
These broad interpretations will, if they do not already, step all over the American people while these behemoths tussle.
January 5th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
gm, i think the SCOTUS bastardized the commerce clause.
January 5th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Uncle:
But I think the argument is that the SCOTUS bastardized it by leaving it up to the legislature. That is, the SCOTUS has mostly ruled that it is the Congress and not the courts who get to decide what “commerce” is.