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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]According to the Post and the NY times, the targeting of al-Awlaki was approved by the US Department of Justice.[/quote]

and

[quote=takoma]
I may have missed this point somewhere along the way, but does the president not have the legal power to order the death of someone, citizen or not, who he has adequate information to believe is a threat to US security? [/quote]

Obviously, Obama believes (or at least publicly suggests -- who knows what's in his heart) that he acted legally. He also believes he acted legally in Libya despite the absence of Congressional authorization.  Just to show where we are in this situation, the New York Times opinion peace that suggested the killing was legal was written by Jack Goldsmith -- the Bush administration official who authored the legal justification for warrantless wiretapping.  There is a school of thought that the President can do anything he wants to do in a time of war. The Global War on Terror in which we have declared ourselves is substantially more open-ended then anything the drafters of the Constitution would have imagined. So, that school of thought puts almost no limits at all on Presidential power. Liberals opposed such interpretations when they were used by President Bush but seem to relish them when used by Obama.

The Justice Department simply drafts opinions. It does not decide legality. As a DOJ official Goldsmith said that warrantless wiretapping was legal. As a candidate Obama said it was not legal. Federal Judges agreed with candidate Obama in rulings against President Obama (who had subsequently changed his position). Likely, candidate Obama would have thought al-Awlaki's killing was illegal.

It appears that the courts are reluctant to get involved. So, there will be no opposition to the killing of American citizens by Presidential writ becoming part of our legal doctrine. The only pushback will be from citizens.

Edit: just to add, Newt Gingrich this morning: "The president signed an order to kill [Awlaki]. That was due process."  Also, Dick Cheney praised the killing and demanded that Obama apologize to him for criticisms of the Bush Administration. This just shows where we are at this point.
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