Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky would like the Obama administration to know that he won't stand to be lectured by its employees on the Constitution or foreign policy.
"This is an administration who, I believe, has trampled the Constitution in many terms. This is an administration that seeks to legislate when it is not in their purview, whether it be immigration, whether it be health care, or whether it now be a war that has been going on for eight months without congressional authorization," Paul said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing with Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday.
Being loudly at odds with the Obama administration is an asset for Paul, who has his own presidential ambitions. And Paul used his time during the hearing on the administration's request for an AUMF to go after ISIS to defend his signing of a letter to Iran that outlined the limits of the executive branch to negotiate a nuclear deal with the Iranian government. One of 47 Republican lawmakers to sign, Paul said his message wasn't intended for the ayatollah as much as it was a direct reminder to the Obama administration that Congress gets a say on foreign policy.
"I signed the letter to Iran, but you know what, the message I was sending was to you," Paul told administration officials present at the hearing. "I signed it to an administration that doesn't listen, to an administration that at every turn tries to go around Congress because you think you that you cannot get your way."