A Stitch in Haste

Meet the Press:

SEC'Y RICE: [T]he president has drawn on additional authorities that he has under the Constitution and under other statutes.

MR. RUSSERT: What are the other authorities?

SEC'Y RICE: Tim, again, I'm not a lawyer, but the president has constitutional authority and he has statutory authorities...

[...i.e., for warrantless wiretapping of American citizens in defiance of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.]

This exchange occurred twice:

SEC'Y RICE: He also has constitutional authorities that derive from his role as commander in chief and his need to protect the country. He has acted within his constitutional authority and within statutory authority.

Now, I am not a lawyer.

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Translation:

"I can tell you unequivocally that the president is acting constitutionally, but I can't tell you why because I have to equivocate by saying I'm not a lawyer..."

Or, if you prefer:

"Just trust me, even though I openly admit that I don't know what I'm talking about..."

Condi for President?

Not in this lifetime.

UPDATE: Obviously embarrassed by Rice's performance, the White House has deployed someone who is a lawyer to try to defend this indefensible policy:

"Our position is that authorization to use force, which was passed by the Congress in the days following September 11, constitutes that other authorization ... to engage in this kind of signals intelligence," [Attorney General Alberto] Gonzales said.

But he conceded: "One might argue, now wait a minute, there's nothing in the authorization to use force that specifically mentions electronic surveillance."

So now we've gone from "clear" statutory authority to "one might argue" statutory authority. And of course there is no constitutional authority for warrantless eavesdropping under any circumstances; there is only constitutional circumvention. Go figure.