Libya: Where's Congress? Worse Yet, Where Are Conservatives?

By Mark J. Fitzgibbons

J.B. Williams writes yesterday criticizing the Obama administration's decision -- absent congressional authority -- to participate in the United Nations' strike against Libya.

Such acts of military force must be authorized by Congress -- before they take place. The President does not have unilateral authority to initiate military action against a foreign sovereign, even if one were to believe the cause is right, and especially not as part of some super-sovereign body like the United Nations.

What we have is an open and notorious violation of the constitutional structure for how such military force may be employed. In the United States, we have a process for how these things work. It's our paramount law. It's written to prevent abuse of power, which may even limit what might seem to be a just cause. The most heinous unilateral acts of the Executive branch, however, are always done in the name of a just cause.

The Libyan situation creates no immediate and present danger to America, so there is plenty of time to follow our constitutional process. But for Ron Paul, the silence from conservative leaders is deafening.

No wonder government violates the Constitution all the time, and in ways less open, serious and notorious than a military strike against a sovereign nation. Our political leaders let it happen. Heck, it's like a club where everyone in it tolerates little and big unconstitutional acts of each other, knowing they'll need the same from their fellow members.

Worse yet, conservative leaders have failed to show constitutional moxie and criticize this lawless act.