Progressive Minds

One of Idiot Son's main defenses for his spying on domestic citizens without obtaining a warrant, has been that the United States Congress essentially gave him the authority to do so, in the joint resolution it passed just days after 9/11, entitled "Authorization for the Use of Military Force."

In an Op/Ed in the Washington Post, former United States Sen. Tom Daschle debunked that claim.

From the WaPo:

"As drafted, and as finally passed, the resolution authorized the president "to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons" who "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Literally minutes before the Senate cast its vote, the administration sought to add the words 'in the United States and' after 'appropriate force' in the agreed-upon text," Daschle wrote. "This last-minute change would have given the president broad authority to exercise expansive powers not just overseas -- where we all understood he wanted authority to act -- but right here in the United States, potentially against American citizens. I could see no justification for Congress to accede to this extraordinary request for additional authority. I refused."

Daschle wrote that Congress also rejected draft language from the White House that would have authorized the use of force to "deter and pre-empt any future acts of terrorism or aggression against the United States," not only against those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks."

Meanwhile, in a letter sent to Congress on yesterday, the Justice Department admitted that Bush's spy order failes to comply with the "procedures of" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S.