From American Prospect:
[T]his administration’s belief that it could, without so much as giving notice to Congress and on no greater legal authority than the contrived judgment of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, break any convention on how we conduct a war is shocking and unconstitutional. If the Pentagon did indeed advise that "authority to set aside the laws is 'inherent in the president,'" as The Wall Street Journal reported, then the administration -- our next attorney general included -- apparently believes that there are no "applicable laws" in this country, not for those who work in the executive branch of the government.
... The U.S. Constitution makes it clear that Congress "make[s] Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces" and "Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water." Not the president, not the Justice or Defense Departments, not the White House counsel. The Congress.
Yet in total secrecy, the president -- with the best legal advice of his counsel Alberto Gonzales -- decided that, if he wanted to, he could do just that. He could overthrow the Constitution and circumvent Congress without so much as a word.
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