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“What I’m asking is about drone strikes on Americans, on American soil,” Sen. Paul responded. “The president will not answer that he cannot do this. In fact, he seems to be asserting that he can do this.” Sen. Paul added, “The CIA is not supposed to assassinate people on American soil and the Department of Defense is not allowed to act on American soil because of the Posse Comitatus Act.”
Before he took the floor, Paul announced that he had received a letter from Holder which opened the door, in extremely rare circumstances, to using a drone to kill someone within U.S. territory. Holder said "catastrophic" attacks such as the Sept. 11 attacks or the attack on Pearl Harbor are examples of circumstances where the president could conceivably feel such an action is necessary. Testifying on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Holder agreed that it would be unconstitutional to use a drone on American soil against a U.S. citizen or a suspected terrorist who did not pose an imminent threat.
Shortly before the vote, Holder sent a terse letter to Paul that read: "It has come to my attention that you have now asked an additional question: 'Does the President have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?' The answer to that question is no."
imminent threat.
www.cnn.com...