From: The Watcher’s Council

Today, we’re happy to bring you a brand new WoW feature… Head To Head!

Each week members of the Council and/or guest debaters will challenge each other in a no-holds-barred cage match discussing the issues making the headlines today.

This week’s match-up pits Greg from Rhymes With Right against Council Alumnus Soccer Dad, as they examine the question: Should articles of impeachment be drawn up over President Obama’s extension of presidential war powers?

The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. — Barack Obama, December 20, 2007

GREG: The exercise of the impeachment power by the House of Representatives is not something to be undertaken lightly. And yet, the words of “constitutional scholar,” “statesman” and Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Hussein Obama carry special weight as we consider the decision to commit US forces to military action in Libya over the past weekend. They speak to a situation in which a president might exceed the authority delegated to him under the US Constitution in such a manner as to constitute a violation of his oath of office and, in the words of the constitution, “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” which amount to an impeachable offense.

Let’s examine the reality of the current Libyan engagement. The United States has not been attacked by Libya, nor is there any discernible threat of attack against the United States during the four weeks since Obama made a nebulous “declaration of emergency” over the Libyan situation made via an executive order. Indeed, the grounds for the attack is to protect Libyan civilians from their own government, which while laudable does not constitute any sort of defense of American security. There has been no authorization of this use of force by either house of Congress, and Speaker John Boehner has made it clear that there has been no meaningful consultation of Congressional leadership or communication as to the intended level of commitment or its goals. Indeed, Obama has declared his authority for the use of force to be not the US Constitution, not a Congressional authorization to use the war-making power of the US military, but a United Nations resolution.

Read more… This is gooood stuff!