Analyst's note: Absolutely must see. In today's world, our U.S. national security remains a key issue to every American, but it goes well beyond our shores. This October 11, 2011 panel discussion (1:06) brought together three former U.S. Attorneys General -- Ed Meese, John Ashcroft, and Michael Mukasey - to discuss the presidential powers and responsibility to protect America.
"America is an exceptional nation, but not because of what it has achieved or accomplished. America is exceptional because, unlike any other nation, it is dedicated to the principles of human liberty, grounded on the truths that all men are created equal and endowed with equal rights." This according to Dr. Matthew Spalding, director of Heritages's B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics. "If America declines, who will serve as living proof that liberty, security, and prosperity can all exist together" Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) asked. "The answer is no one will."
"Arguably more than any other armed conflict, the events of September 11, 2001 tested the President’s constitutional authority to wage war on behalf of the country. Whether the issue was the capture and treatment of detainees, interrogation techniques, surveillance, the Geneva Conventions, wiretapping, Guantanamo, or the role of the courts during war time, this conflict unleashed a public debate regarding the role of the President during wartime. Who ensures America’s national security?
Does the Constitution, as John Yoo argues, give the President “the primary direction of national security decisions, with Congress retaining ample authority to check executive power”? Or, as others have asserted, the Framers “intended Congress to play the predominant role in setting national security and foreign policy and that legislative action invariably overrides presidential decision-making”? And what role, if any, should the Courts play in the conduct of national security policy?
Join us for this historic event to hear three former U.S. Attorneys General discuss their views on the Constitution as it pertains to Presidential power and the role of Congress and the Court during wartime."
