Rand Paul Again Slams Trump Over Strikes Against Alleged Drug Boats: 'Unchecked Powers Are Dangerous'

Republican Sen. Rand Paul again slammed President Donald Trump over the administration's escalating military campaign in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

Speaking to journalist Glenn Greenwald, Paul was asked if the Trump administration has been "embracing the legal framework that has been in place since 9/11, the war on terror," and whether not withdrawing the framework will allow U.S. presidents to "bomb whoever they want forever?"

"I think it's important to remember our history, even our recent history, back to the Obama administration. I think he killed over 1,000 people with drones. They used to have ¿killing terrorist Tuesdays' where they had flashcards and then go through the flashcards and pick people on the flashcards," Paul claimed.

He went on to say "we seem to have different standards," considering that "when democrats were in charge, Republicans were up in arms over this" and "now that Republicans are doing it, Democrats are rightly up in arms against Trump but some of them are willing to forget that their hero, president Obama, was doing it as well."

"But you're right, that legal framework and precedent has allowed president trump to say 'look everybody does this,' they're terrorist. And it starts this circular argument," Paul added.

Other Republican lawmakers have expressed discomfort with the military campaign, with some demanding greater oversight.

"I think we've got to be very careful when you're talking about ordering a kinetic strike," said Republican Senator Thom Tillis to The New York Times recently, while Republican Senator Susan Collins added that the Senate should "pass a resolution that either authorizes his force or prevents its use."

Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma told C-SPAN the White House "needs to give insight" to Congress, adding: "If this was happening, with this level of insight, under the Biden administration, I'd be apoplectic We're not his opponent on this, we are an ally in this to be able to solve it, but we need to be able to have a voice on it as a coequal branch"

The Trump administration, however, is so confident that its military campaign in the Caribbean is so popular that it doesn't need approval from Congress, according to a new report.

Concretely, a White House official told Politico that the strikes against the vessels in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific fulfill a campaign promise from Donald Trump to deal with drug cartels.

The official went on to say that lawmakers have been briefed on the strikes several times since the campaign began in September and that the administration is "working through additional requests for information from the Hill."