Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster yesterday broke through the clutter, the media narrative and MADE A PRINCIPLED POINT ABOUT THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF KILLING AMERICANS ON US SOIL in this case with drones. Today, Paul finally got an answer out of Eric Holder on the question of whether the Obama Administration would kill Americans with drone. It was short, sweet and snarky. Invoking the, “it has come to my attention” device, Holder went on in his best Nixonesque style, 

“Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on U.S. soil?” Holder’s letter reads. “The answer to that is no.”

Paul wanted clarification on Holder previous letter leaving the White House wiggle room on the answer to the question,

“…It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States.”

Now readers of this blog know what I think about blowing up bad guys who are terrorists–even American citizens on the field of battle such as Anwar al Awlaki and Samir Khan. Read that here.  

But Paul is right to demand an answer from this White House to his principled question. By so doing, he’s telling these guys that their weasel worded responses will not pass his smell test. This is what you have to do to this White House. John Boehner has (so far ) out waited Barack Obama on the sequester deal and the President’s approval numbers have plummeted as a result. The Republicans called the President’s bluff and he blinked. When you take a stand on principle, the President crumbles. There’s no down side to this!

Republicans, this is what leadership can look like. Stand on principle, go directly to the people, make your case and watch them follow.