CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Michael McCaul

Interview

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My next guest led the Republican opposition during this debate. He's joining us now just off the House floor. Representative Mike McCaul of Texas is the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Thanks, Wolf. Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: All right, so you voted against the resolution. But lawmakers who support reigning in the President's powers, including some key Republicans in the Senate, for example, Rand Paul and Mike Lee, they say they're re-asserting congressional authority. That's their responsibility.

And just moments ago, Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, a strong supporter of the President, said this -- I represent more troops than any other member of this body. I buried one of them earlier today at Arlington. If our service members have the courage to fight and die in these wars, Congress ought to have the courage to vote for or against them. I'm voting for this resolution.

Tell us why you disagree with Matt Gaetz.

MCCAUL: Well, you know, I think the premise is flawed for the whole resolution. We are not engaged in active hostilities in Iran. I think if the President had responded, say, to the ballistic missile strike from Iran into Iraq and hit inside of Iran, clearly, that would require an authorized use of military force. I would fully support that. I'm not saying -- Article 1, we clearly have a role as members of Congress to declare war and authorize use of military forces.

I will say, Jeh Johnson, who's a good friend, former secretary of Homeland, DOD legal counsel, who used to authorize these airstrikes, said that this was a completely lawful military objective and that no authorization was needed from Congress.

I agree with a Democrat, Secretary Jeh Johnson, that, in this case, we're not there. It's premature. And in fact, the President is trying to de-escalate this, being clear doesn't want war. He wants -- he wants peace in the matter.

And I think the last point is usually this go through the Foreign Affairs Committee. We have hearings. We mark it up. It goes on the floor.

The interesting thing about this is it's a non-binding resolution that will never go to the President's desk. So it's a bit of a charade because it will never have the force and effect of law. And I don't understand, if they're that serious about it, why they wouldn't do a resolution that would go to the President.

BLITZER: Well, if the Senate passes a resolution -- and they got some different language. Senator Tim Kaine got some different language, but Rand Paul supports it right now. Mike Lee of Utah supports it. Let's say it passes the Senate then comes become to the House --

MCCAUL: Yes.

BLITZER: -- and passes the House. Then, presumably, it would go to the President for his signature.

MCCAUL: And I think that's absolutely correct. I think that's probably the more likely scenario, is that Kaine's resolution comes to the House. And then, it will go to the President; he'll veto it. I think the veto will be sustained.

I think you -- look, this is a very fascinating debate, Wolf. I don't know if you got to see it. We had a lot of veterans speak on the floor about what Soleimani did. He killed 600 Americans, wounded thousands of Americans on the battlefield, the Gold Star mothers.

And a lot of these members of Congress now -- we have a veteran generation coming in from the Iraq War -- spoke about their personal experiences. And you know, we took out a designated terrorist under the Obama administration with an authorized strike, both by Article 2 of the Constitution and also the 202 Authorization in Iraq.

BLITZER: Well, let me ask you -- let me ask you this, Congressman. Let's say this crisis does escalate, that the Iranians continue to attack various U.S. targets inside Iraq, and then the President decides to retaliate by going after some of those bases inside Iran. Inside Iran. Would that require a new resolution authorization for the use of military force by Congress before he would be allowed to do so?

[17:44:58]

MCCAUL: Absolutely, and I actually stated that on the House floor. In the event that happens, or had he retaliated against this surface- to-air missile sites in Iran, I -- there's no authorization for the President to go into Iran, and Congress does have a role in terms of declaring war. And I would argue that the President would have to come to the Congress to get that authorization.

BLITZER: Very interesting. Representative Mike McCaul, thanks so much for joining us.

MCCAUL: Thanks, Wolf.

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