Graham: Trump ‘had all the authority he needs under the Constitution' for Iran strikes
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in a Sunday morning interview pushed back on claims that President Trump acted outside his Constitutional authority by ordering strikes on Iran.
'No, he was within his Article II authority,' Graham said in an interview on NBC News's 'Meet the Press,' when asked if Trump violated the U.S. Constitution by 'acting unilaterally.'
'Congress can declare war or cut off funding,' Graham continued. 'We can't be the commander in chief. You can't have 535 commander in chiefs.'
'If you don't like what the president does, in terms of war, you can cut off the funding. But declaring war is left of the Congress. We've declared war five times in the history of America. All of these other military operations were lawful.'
'He had all the authority he needs under the Constitution. They are wrong,' he added, referring to critics who say Trump should have sought congressional approval before ordering strikes on the three Iranian nuclear sites this weekend.
Trump announced Saturday the United States had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, including the Fordow site located in a mountainside.
'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,' Trump posted on Truth Social.
'All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home,' Trump added. 'Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!'
The announcement of U.S. action against Iran came two days after the White House said Trump would decide whether to get involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel 'in the next two weeks' to give a window for negotiations.
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