U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta would defer to international law

In a meeting of the U.S. Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama questioned Leon Panetta about the Obama Administration’s approach to taking military action in Syria. Panetta responded by saying that the U.S. would be concerned with foreign legal entities as opposed to U.S. Congressional approval:

“Our goal would be to seek international permission, and we would come to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this. Whether or not we would want to get permission from the Congress, I think those are issues we would have to discuss as we decide what to do here.”

Sen. Sessions was clearly taken aback by Panetta’s answer.

This is not the first time the Obama Administration has come under fire over the issue of congressional approval. In several speeches, President Obama has suggested that he would bypass Congress in order to ensure enactment of certain legislation.