Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he fears the Obama administration has opened “Pandora’s box” with its use of armed drones against Americans overseas who are suspected of terrorism.
Paul is threatening to filibuster John Brennan's nomination for CIA director over the drone program. He says Brennan sidestepped a question at his confirmation hearing last week about whether it would ever be acceptable to target a citizen on American soil without some kind of judicial review.
"What I want to hear from John Brennan before I let his nomination go forward is that no, a CIA or the Department of Defense cannot kill someone in America without any kind of judicial proceeding," Paul said Thursday on CNN.
"By Brennan not saying no, that he won't strike Americans in America, he is essentially saying yes, and that is very scary and worrisome to me.”
The White House’s drone program has come under fire since the release of white paper that outlined the government's legal rationale for using drones to kill suspected terrorism suspects overseas, regardless of nationality.
Paul said he fears that creates a slippery slope. If the government is capable of killing American on foreign soil without due process, he said, there’s no reason to think it couldn’t happen on American soil as well.
"Is that a high enough standard for Americans maybe coming out of a city or an encampment somewhere in the U.S. where they're meeting and saying anti-government things?" Paul said. "Are we going to have signature strikes in America?
"It opens Pandora's box once you say you may well kill Americans in America without any judicial trial, with politicians making the decision. That's very worrisome."
