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"The first thing we ought to do is probably obey the Constitution," Paul said on "Kilmeade and Friends." "When Nikki Haley came before my committee and I voted for her, I asked her that question. 'Will you try to take us to war? Will you advocate for war without constitutional or congressional authority?' And she said no. So I assumed what she means by this is that, the President, if he decides to do something in Syria, he would come to Congress and ask for a declaration of war. Short of Congress voting on it, I'm opposed to illegal and unconstitutional wars."

Paul said he had sympathy for the images coming out of Syria, but any action would need to be carefully weighed.

"I have the greatest amount of sympathy, I can't see those pictures, it's heartrending to see those pictures," he said. "But going to war we have to decide, will it be better or worse? Will we improve our national security? Are we threatened currently by Syria, and if we go to war is (Syrian President Bashar al-)Assad likely to use less chemical weapons or more? There's some argument for the more cornered and the more defeated in some ways more likely they are to use chemical weapons and actually for the less defeated they are that they're less likely to use them. The bottom line is it's horrific."

Link:
Rand Paul: Military action in Syria needs Congressional approval - CNN

Rare.us

Rand Paul reminds President Trump that he opposed Syria intervention back in 2013 Rare.us On Wednesday, Rand Paul sent a message to Donald Trump via Twitter that the president once strongly opposed Barack Obama militarily intervening in Syria's ongoing civil war. In August of 2013, the international community believed Syria's President ... Rand Paul tells Trump to stick to his 2013 guns on SyriaWashington Examiner Democrats: Trump 'really needs to come to Congress' to approve strikes on AssadCNN Paul, Lee: Congress needs to vote on Trump's military action in SyriaThe Hill (blog) MINA -Daily Caller -The Libertarian Republic all 4,503 news articles »

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Rand Paul reminds President Trump that he opposed Syria intervention back in 2013 - Rare.us

I confess I always had mixed feelings about Rand Paul. The Kentucky senator is clearly a smart guy but his brand of libertarianism seemedbetter on paper than in real life. Moreover, his constant warnings about privacy and the excessive power of our overweening intelligence agencies felt overwrought. I assumed those agencies had their hands full withISIS et al. and that it bordered on the paranoid worrying abouttheir cooperating with our own government leaders in domestic spying. If anything was unAmerican, that was. And it was illegal.

Boy, was I wrong.

As events continue to evolve in the Susan Rice "unmasking" scandal, my hat's off to Rand. He's my new hero, out there demanding Rice testify andwondering whythe former national security adviserwas doing investigating that normally wouldhave been done by the FBI.

Another hero is Lee Smith, whosearticle in Tablet is positively blood-curdling. After reminding us of what we already know -- that Rice's "unmasking" of Trump teammates in and of itself is not a crime, even if unseemly -- Smithadds:

In a December 29, 2015article,TheWall Street Journaldescribed how the Obama administration had conducted surveillance on Israeli officials to understand how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, like Ambassador Ron Dermer, intended to fight the Iran Deal. TheJournalreported that the targeting also swept up the contents of some of their private conversations with U.S. lawmakers and American-Jewish groups.

Despite this reporting, it seemed inconceivable at the time thatgiven myriad legal, ethical, political, and historical concerns, as well as strict National Security Agency protocols that protect the identity of American names caught in interceptsthe Obama White House would have actually spied on American citizens. In a December 31, 2016, Tabletarticleon the controversy, Why the White House Wanted Congress to Think It Was Being Spied on By the NSA, I argued that the Obama administration had merely used theappearanceof spying on American lawmakers to corner opponents of the Iran Deal. Spying on U.S. citizens would be a clear abuse of the foreign-intelligence surveillance system. It would be a felony offense to leak the names of U.S. citizens to the press.

Increasingly, I believe that my conclusion in that piece was wrong. I believe the spying was real and that it was done not in an effort to keep the country safe from threatsbut in order to help the White House fight their domestic political opponents.

Smith goes on to show how Obama & Co. essentially weaponized the NSA's legitimate monitoring of foreign officials -- in thiscase Israelis -- to gain the administration's ends (i. e. tarnish Jewish-Americans in opposition to the Iran Deal for having "dual loyalties" in order to weaken opposition to thedeal).

More here:
Rand Paul's Day in the Sun - PJ Media

While President Trump is openly said to be planning a possible attack on Syria, and is discussing options for such an attack with Defense Secretary James Mattis, Sen. Rand Paul (R KY) is warning that any such attack would first require Congressional approval.

Sen. Paul cited assurances from US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley that she would not advocate war without congressional authority. While the current and recent administration have used the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force as a blanket attack everywhere authorization, this particular attack on Syria wouldnt be even tangentially related to al-Qaeda, and would stretch the AUMF far, far beyond incredulity.

The need for Congressional authorization for a war of regime change in Syria, already killed the Obama-era effort in 2013, as after Britains parliament voted against joining such a war, Obama Administration officials started courting Congress for their own vote, and when it became clear they had no chance of getting an authorization, they dropped the matter, despite arguing that they couldve unilaterally attacked without Congress.

The modern penchant for US presidents to unilaterally start wars without Congress rests heavily on Congress not openly challenging such moves, and the huge scope of a potential Syrian War, including the possibility of getting sucked rapidly into a war with Russia, would make it difficult for Congressional leaders to eschew their role in such a decision.

Sen. Paul also warned that the US war of regime change might make things worse, as it might back the Assad government into a corner and force him to make more rash actions.

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Sen. Rand Paul: Syria Attack Would Need Congressional Approval - Antiwar.com

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told Sen. Rand Paul Wednesday that he would look into reports that U.S. border agents are demanding cellphone data from U.S. citizens and legal residents when they are trying to return home after traveling abroad.

Paul, R-Ky., told Kelly in a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing that there are reports of thousands of these searches, which he said set an "extraordinarily unreasonable standard."

"We're denying people entry who are citizens or green card holders who are coming back home, and your department is saying to them, you cannot return to your home without giving us your fingerprint, and giving us all of the data on your phone, access to all the data on your phone," Paul said.

Kelly responded by saying he's not aware of any significant increase in searches against U.S. citizens, and said these would normally take place under "very, very, very critical circumstances."

"I would say that an American citizen ought to be able to come back in and not have their electronics searched," Kelly said.

Paul persisted, and said reports say these kinds of searches have increased.

"Let me take that on, senator," Kelly said. He said press reports can often be inaccurate, and that "there's always more to the story."

Kelly later said he believes attempts to download phone data from returning U.S. citizens is "not happening." He said it is "certainly happening to foreigners coming in, "but not routinely."

Paul asked Kelly to get back to him with more information. "Will do," Kelly said.

Also from the Washington Examiner

Derek Kan is general manager for Lyft's Southern California region.

04/06/17 9:41 PM

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DHS promises Rand Paul to probe reports of 'unreasonable ... - Washington Examiner