Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) attempted to halt the Obama administration’s efforts to act swiftly and strike Syria on Wednesday afternoon, proposing an amendment that would declare President Obama in violation of the Constitution should he follow through on his desired attack on Syria if Congress does not vote to approve the resolution.
The resolution was tabled by a 14-5 vote.
Paul reasoned that because Congress wants to have a say in what happens in Syria, any action from Obama to continue with the attack would essentially negate the administration’s supposed attempt to consult Congress and arrive at an agreed-upon resolution.
"You shouldn’t get it both ways. You shouldn’t be allowed to say ‘I’m going to abide by the authority of the Congress when I win, but when I lose I’m not,’" Paul said. "This is a great issue in a perfect time to talk about it."
Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) responded to Paul that the issue is "important enough" but moved to table the amendment on account of his personal view that the issue is of such importance that "should be held for debate before the Committee ... but that right now is much greater than the issue that is before us."