[ The only intelligent answer to the question would have been, “I’m sorry. I deal in reality. Next question.” ]
On the contrary, it was a quite reasonable hypothetical, a standard “gotcha’ that every candidate must expect to field from time to time, and Paul’s answer could have contained greater detail, but it covered the essential point: US presidents do not have the constitutional authority to deploy troops into combat without reference to a pressing national interest, whether the appeal is being made for Jews, Armenians, Tutsis, Kosovites, Libyans, or North Koreans. Our current and recent presidents have not always recognized that limit on their authority, at least not on a consistent basis. Vote for more of that if you like. Some of us prefer a candidate who will respect the limits of his authority.
Good post (#58)... Some of the “conservatives” who yell the loudest about the constitution want to shred the constitution on this issue and be world police.
In years past, we were much more cautious about jumping into conflicts! When did the republican part become the war party? When did being the world police become the “conservative” position.