Mattis: Trump Legal Authority for Air Strikes Comes from ‘Article 2 of the Constitution’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

REPORTER: "Secretary Mattis, I want to talk to you about the legal basis for this strike. Could you talk more about that? In your testimony the other day it sounded like you were saying a potential strike would be linked to self-defense and the presence of American forces in Syria? Can you say more about that? Also, regarding whether there will be future action for additional strikes--you said it would depend on whether the outside government conducts future attacks. Can you explain a little more about what would be the threshold for that? There were repeated chemical attacks between April 2017 and today. Would you consider a small-scale Lorene attack sufficient to launch additional strikes?"
MATTIS: "Right now, I would tell you we are in close consultation with our allies. We review all the evidence all the time. It is difficult, as you know to get evidence out of Syria. Right now we have no additional attacks planned. As far as the legal authority under article two of the Constitution, we believe the president has every reason to defend vital American interests."