“The Obama bots said the Founders would not use Vattel...”
Actually, what this non-birther has argued is that
1) NBC is a phrase not found in Vattel until AFTER the Constitution was written,
2) The phrase was later used in one sentence in Vattel,
3) Vattel was writing philosophy, not a legal dictionary, and
4) the Supreme Court made a decent argument suggesting the original intent of NBC is found in the common law meaning of natural born SUBJECT, with citizen replacing subject as the country left the monarchy and became a republic.
Showing that a book of philosophy was part of Jefferson’s list of reading that included Latin, French, mathematics and science is hardly the same as showing a phrase not found in Vattel at the time of the Constitution is the key to understanding the Constitution’s original intent.
I’m in general agreement with your argument, but I’m curious how Vattel managed to write anything after the Constitution when he died on December 28, 1767.
It’s also relevant to remember that Jefferson was not present at the Constitutional Convention.