Rand Paul: Politicians don’t get to kill American Citizens

Sen. Rand Paul demanded answers from CIA director nominee, John Brennan, in regards to drone strikes today on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ He also spoke about his upcoming ‘Tea Party’ response to the president’s ‘State of the Union’ speech on Tuesday night–and how it may differ from Marco Rubio’s establishment Republican response. Scroll down for the full interview.

The president, a politician, Republican or Democrat, should never get to decide someone’s death by flipping through some flash cards and saying, ‘You want to kill him? Yeah, let’s go ahead and kill him…’

It’s very unseemly that a politician gets to decide the death of an American citizen…They should answer about this 16-year-old boy, al-Awlaki’s son, that was killed, not in collateral damage but in a separate strike. They never answered that. I think you should be tried for treason if you’re an American citizen, you go overseas and you take up arms. I’m probably for executing you but I want to hear the evidence. (CNN’s “State of the Union” 2/10/13)

What is the “State of the Union,” when these points are even debatable?

Paul said he won’t vote to confirm John Brennan as CIA director until Brennan clarifies his answer about whether U.S. citizens can legally be killed by drone strikes within the United States. Check back for the full interview shortly…

Liberal Senator Angus King, Jr., a political independent who caucus with the Democratic Party, agreed with Rand Paul on setting up oversight for drone strikes against American citizens. Watch his interview here.
UPDATE. Senator Paul’s full interview: