is this time different in your view? i think it is different, because there is a big point here that is becoming clearer and clearer, almost with every day. which is that this president and his team are conducting foreign policy in a way that is strong and serious and takes serious issues seriously. we haven t seen that for a long time. now, you don t deal with problems by ignoring them. you don t just sit and hope for the best and wish them away, and i think that the difference that you are seeing now is that it s a combination of the diplomacy, a concerted consistent message on the economic front, a range of things. but underlying all of this is a real sense that this administration means business, and that is the connection also with other actions they have taken, for example, the syrian air strike. so i got a feeling that there are no more grounds for optimism than we have seen for many years. bret: word separately from
with the president now swamped in a new sheen of officialdom and potency. arthur herman is a historian and author of macarthur, american warrior? the fact that his entire security team signed onto this, and very well consider, i would even say brilliant stroke. and for americans now going forward, when they think about donald trump, i think this is going to be in the back of their minds, this is a man who can carry out a masterstroke of this kind. the syrian air strike was carried out while the president was entertaining on american soil chinese president xi jinping. it struck veteran observers as unusual if not unprecedented. stickley is telling the chinese, listen, the north koreans are trying to weapon eyes missiles, and the rhetoric, use them against my country and my people, don t push me into a corner where i have to use a military option.
and i m glad he did it. majority leader mitch mcconnell praise the commander in chief for his response after a brutal attack by the syrian regime using weapons of mass destruction against its own people. the strike was well-planned, well executed, was certainly more than a pinprick, and sent a message, not only to assad that using chemical weapons again is something that he cannot do with impunity. mcconnell said vice president pence called him last night to brief him ahead of the strike, and there was at least some bipartisan support after the people of syria have suffered for so long under a brutal regime. making sure that assad knows when you commit such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do. house speaker paul ryan praise the president for taking action but is now calling on the administration to consult with congress on next steps. some of the senate s top box
he has given himself some cards. bret: in those meetings, it was essentially he said, she said. [laughter] it s friday, right? i m not sure that this preemptive strike on the north korean facilities, although it could, that would lead to an immediate attack, they live within artillery range of the north koreans, but i think it could portend united states shooting down a missile test. that, i would expect, would be the next step after the strike we had yesterday. i think it is a far more plausible possibility. and i went be surprised if, in the next 18 months, particularly if it is a missile aimed at the united states, i think it is possible that this administration would shoot it
priestly president praise the president. the only constitutional requirements that exist regarding war is for congress to put the nation and a declared state of war. kentucky senator rand paul, one of the only republicans to criticize president trump taking action, says he should consult with congress first. the president really doesn t have the authority under the constitution to initiate war. i think what we re doing now is illegal and unconstitutional. virginia democrat tim kaine says congress should debate and vote on authorization for the use of military force which he supported in the foreign relations committee in 2013. i think president trump will get support on that, but he s got to come to congress. lawmakers to get some other questions answered in a classified meeting with the chairman of each but not all. huge questions about the legality of the strike and how it sits within a broader serious