“Giving a man like this the authority to order the assassination of a US citizen, with no oversight, is the height of insanity.”
Intelligence operations are overseen by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee. An important operation, especially one involving a US citizen (should) be brought before the committee. I’m assuming that’s the present procedure and it was followed. If the committee gave the go-ahead then that’s all Obama needs for cover on the present case. (More on the legality below.) Now, if Obama’s agencies are running with no oversight whatsoever, then yes, the situation needs to be addressed.
Recall Joe Biden wanted to put Bush on trial. Biden called it a show trial, I kid-you-not. I think it would be a terrible precedent to set that presidents pursued their recent predecessors for political reasons. We’d never get a conservative agenda enacted. Nobody would even try. Besides presidents are supposed to pursue their agenda. That’s what we elect them to do. Now, if Obama’s committed fraud or theft or clearly violated laws that aren’t political (wide-open field there) then let’s prosecute.
Voters should be the ones who punish presidents for pursuing an unacceptable agenda.
Having said this, the president has a broad range of powers. One of them is to protect the Constitution and the people from enemies foreign and domestic. There are ample examples where actions taken by US presidents killed American citizens who had gone over to the other side. We need to bear mind that the presidency may soon be again in the hands of a mature, American adult and we wouldn’t want to tie that future president’s hands by taking rash actions based on how much we despise the Child-in-Chief.
I agree that briefing and asking for consent from the bipartisan Intelligence group would be acceptable, I do not see any evidence that Obama did such a thing.