Rand Paul debates Judge Jeanine on Trump’s Syria attack, says ‘more refugees,’ ‘more death’ coming

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Judge Jeanine Pirro President Donald Trump’s recent strike against Syria is not constitutional and could cause “more death” and “more refugees.”

Pirro’s interview with Paul aired on Saturday night’s episode of “Justice with Judge Jeanine” on Fox News Channel. In the interview, Paul told Pirro he believes the Constitution requires the president to request permission from Congress before going to war and that the strike on Syria should have been authorized by Congress before Trump issued the order.

“We just spent a lengthy week approving Justice Gorsuch, and what many conservatives like about him is that he adheres to the law,” said Paul. “He’s an originalist. I’m the same way as a legislator. I think we should look to our Founding Fathers and to the opening debates of our country. They said that the power to declare war or to initiate war resided in the legislature. Specifically, the did not give it to the executive. It was a big debate, and they were explicit: War would be declared by Congress. So, when we go to war, that’s the way it should be.”

Pirro, a former judge and district attorney, agreed with Paul’s assessment, but she said the question was whether the Syrian strike should be classified as “war.” Pirro said she thinks Trump’s attack was justified and legal, but further action might require approval from Congress.

Paul responded by pointing out that when President George W. Bush initiated an attack against Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq, he did so only after asking Congress for permission.

“It always starts with bombing,” Paul said.

Pirro and Paul also debated whether the strike and further U.S. intervention would improve the dire situation in the region.

“You’ve got almost 500,000 people killed in Syria, 5 million displaced all over the world,” Pirro said. “At some point, even Chuck Schumer , agrees what happened was horrific. And this guy —”

“I guess my question would be,” Paul interjected, “War has caused these refugees to flee and has caused these deaths, so, will more war accelerating or accentuating the current war with our involvement, will there be less refugees and less death? I would say there will probably be more death and more refugees.”

Paul has been an outspoken critic U.S. intervention in foreign regions and wars, and he was quick to denounce Trump’s decision to strike an airbase in Syria following reports the Syrian government used deadly sarin gas to kill at least 86 people, including 28 children, earlier in April.

In an article published by FoxNews.com on Friday, Paul wrote, “There is no doubt Assad is a brutal dictator. But if we seek to remove him, we must ask what comes next. Assad is fighting radical Islamic rebels, including large parts of ISIS. Who would take over Syria if Assad is deposed? Experience in Libya tells us chaos could reign, and radical Islamists could control large parts of the country.”