Rep. Amash rejects Sen. Graham's version of 'freedom agenda'

Freshman Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) on Sunday night flatly rejected a recommendation from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that the U.S. should start bombing Col. Moammar Gadhafi's inner circle in order to force him to leave Libya.

Amash was responding to Graham's CNN appearance on Sunday, when Graham said the U.S. should be prepared to ignore the United Nations Security Council and step up attacks on Libya.

"You can't let the Russians and the Chinese veto the freedom agenda," Graham said. "So any time you go to the United Nations Security Council, you run into the Russians and the Chinese. These are quasi-dictatorships, so I wouldn’t be locked down by the U.N. mandate."

"Let's be clear: Sen. Lindsey Graham does not speak for the 'freedom agenda,' as he implies, nor does he speak for the Republican Party," Amash responded in a Facebook post. "He believes a president can commence war without congressional authorization, in direct contravention of the Constitution. Nobody should mistake his views for the views of Republicans or genuine conservatives."

The dispute within the GOP over how to proceed in Libya in large part reflects the split between national security-oriented members such as Graham, and those like Amash who seek to strictly adhere to the Constitution. Amash, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and others believe President Obama violated the Constitution by not seeking congressional approval for actions in Libya.

But Graham's recommendation to "cut the head of the snake off" by attacking Gadhafi directly was also downplayed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who said on CNN that ousting Gadhafi is "a little harder than you think it is."

"Gadhafi is a survivor and we don’t know exactly where he is," McCain said. "We do have to worry about civilian casualties, that could turn the Libyan people against us."