“It was probably the worst briefing I’ve seen at least on a military issue in the nine years I’ve served,” Lee said Wednesday. “A declaration of war or an AUMF is what the Constitution requires and drive-by notification, or after the fact, lame briefings like the one we just received aren’t adequate.”
“It is not acceptable for officials within the executive branch of government I don’t care whether they are with the CIA, with the Department of Defense or otherwise to come in and tell us that we can’t debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against Iran. It is un-American. It is unconstitutional and it is wrong and I–I hope and expect that they will show greater deference to their own limited power in the future and to the power that belongs to Congress,” Lee said.