"Panetta convinced his other principals to make the decision that was actually within his authority. He received their full-fledged support, but the president, according to the official, remained clueless on the mission, which was why he appeared so calm at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner the night before and why he was on the golf course when the helicopters crossed over Pakistani borders enroute to Abbottabad.”
If this story is true (and it rings true), I understood it that Obama was not notified until the helicopters crossed over into Pakistani airspace.
Then Obama was notified for an approval. Obama still had to sign off on the mission, but Panetta wanted to keep Obama and Jarrett out of the loop until the last minute (because they had scuttled 3-4 other missions to kill OBL).
In the case of Benghazi, as Hunt describes protocol, Obama would have needed to have been informed the moment the attack occurred. The only person who could have rejected any military assistance to the consulate and personnel during the attack was Obama himself.
At least, that is how I understood the implications of what Hunt said.
Pres, VP, State, Sec Def & various others ... all would have been notified immediately per Hunt. The link I had, Hunt’s voice was grainy, but I thought I understood him to say that if Hillary had picked up the phone & called Panetta and said “We need help at Benghazi, what assets do you have?” that Panetta had the authority to respond with assets. I’ll have to listen to it again on a better link - wish I had a transcript.