Senate votes down Paul's bid to revoke war authorizations

The Senate has rejected a measure from Sen. Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard Paul The Hill's 12:30 Report — Trump says Dems inflated Puerto Rico death toll | House cancels Friday votes | Florence starts to hit coast The Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by Better Medicare Alliance — Facing major hurricane, Trump is tested Rand Paul ramps up his alliance with Trump MORE (R-Ky.) to sunset two war bills and force a debate on what war powers President Trump should have.

Senators voted 61-36 Wednesday to table an amendment from the Kentucky Republican to get rid of the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF).

Paul wanted to attach a six-month sunset of the two war bills to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that is moving through the Senate. The 2001 AUMF was approved the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, while the 2002 AUMF authorized the Iraq War.

Paul warned that voting against his resolution was voting to let the president do "whatever he wants."

"What I would say to my colleagues is, let's do your job. This is your constitutional role. Let's let these expire, and over the next six months, let's debate whether we should be at war and where," Paul said.

The vote, which marks the first time the full Senate has held an AUMF vote since 2002, created strange political bedfellows. In addition to Paul, supporters of the bill included Sens. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann Warren On The Money: Trump readying 0B in tariffs for China | Warren wants companies to disclose climate impacts | Bill aims to provide clarity to online sales tax ruling Overnight Energy: Warren bill would force companies to disclose climate impacts | Green group backs Gillum in Florida gov race | Feds to open refuge near former nuke site Former Virginia Gov. McAuliffe to visit Iowa, fueling 2020 speculation MORE (D-Mass.), Mike LeeMichael (Mike) Shumway Lee US military intervention in Venezuela would be a major mistake The Hill's 12:30 Report — Obama jumps into midterm fight with speech blasting Trump | Trump wants DOJ to probe anonymous writer | Day four of Kavanaugh hearing Live coverage: Trump court pick returns for final day of questioning MORE (R-Utah) and Tim KaineTimothy (Tim) Michael Kaine The Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by Better Medicare Alliance — Cuomo wins and Manafort plea deal Virginia reps urge Trump to declare federal emergency ahead of Hurricane Florence More Dems come out in public opposition to Kavanaugh MORE (D-Va.).

"It’s been 16 yrs since Congress passed the existing AUMF after 9/11, but yr after yr, Congress refuses to re-examine this outdated policy. ...It’s long past time for Congress to do right by our troops & the American people," Warren said on Twitter, announcing her support.

Sen. Chris MurphyChristopher (Chris) Scott Murphy Situation in Yemen should lead us to return to a constitutional foreign policy Overnight Defense: Biden honors McCain at Phoenix memorial service | US considers sending captured ISIS fighters to Gitmo and Iraq | Senators press Trump on ending Yemen civil war Senators press Trump administration on Yemen civil war MORE (D-Conn.), who like Warren is seen as a possible White House candidate in 2020, added from the Senate floor that, "It's time for us to sunset these authorizations. And I do think that we will be able with that pressure to be able to come up with a new authorization."

But the measure faced long odds of being added to the NDAA, with leadership and key senators coming out against it ahead of the vote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell Ann Coulter believes Kushner wrote anonymous op-ed bashing Trump The Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by Better Medicare Alliance — Facing major hurricane, Trump is tested Flake urges GOP to break silence on Trump's 'destruction' of 'democratic norms' MORE (R-Ky.) said Paul's move would "leave nothing but uncertainty" for the military and be "simply irresponsible."

"Sixteen years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, our enemies aren’t gone and our troops are still in harm’s way," he said from the Senate floor.

Both Sens. John McCainJohn Sidney McCain Jay Leno dedicates patriot award to McCain Overnight Defense: Details on defense spending bill | NATO chief dismisses talk of renaming HQ for McCain | North Korea warns US over cyber allegations Former McCain campaign manager joins Showtime's 'The Circus' MORE (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Bob CorkerRobert (Bob) Phillips Corker Rand Paul ramps up his alliance with Trump Poll: Republican Blackburn leads Democrat Bredesen by 3 points in Tennessee Senate race The Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by Better Medicare Alliance — McConnell warns of GOP `knife fight’ to keep Senate control MORE (R-Tenn.) came out in opposition to the measure.

"I agree that we need to take action on an AUMF. ...I am all for updating. Our committee intends to do so," Corker said.

Senators on both sides of the aisle have for years been pushing for Congress to hold a vote on whether they should sunset the 2001 or 2002 war authorizations, or pass a new AUMF to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

But deep policy and political divisions have repeatedly stymied congressional efforts.

Kaine and Sen. Jeff FlakeJeffrey (Jeff) Lane Flake Bill Kristol building 'war machine' to challenge Trump in 2020 primary Rand Paul ramps up his alliance with Trump Poll: Sinema narrowly leads McSally in Arizona Senate race MORE (R-Ariz.), two of the most vocal supporters for passing a new AUMF, introduced a new war bill earlier this year, but that measure is stuck in the Foreign Relations Committee.