SUNDAY TALK ! nbc

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Well, obviously it was fantastic news both for our country and certainly the families of those airmen that had been shot down. But it speaks to the courage, the bravery, and the commitment to service of our armed forces. They truly are the greatest armed forces anywhere in the world, and I think they proved that once again in this rescue mission.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Let me ask you, because the rescue mission in Iran did involve sending in special forces, and it was notable in his primetime address on Wednesday, President Trump did not rule out sending in U.S. forces on the ground in Iran. So let me ask you, would you support President Trump actually putting U.S. troops on the ground in Iran?

SPEAKER_00 0:49

I think in this instance, a rescue mission, it was necessary to do everything in our power to ensure that no troops were left behind. And I commend the President for taking decisive action to do that. I think the question moving forward uh with respect to any troops on the ground would be for what purpose? And I think the only purpose uh that I could see would be to get the enriched uranium. And I think that is something that does need to be discussed with Congress in a classified setting. And I think Congress would need to be briefed on that particular matter. But I want to push back on something Senator Kane said. This is not an illegal military operation. The President is fully within his authority to conduct this military operation. The War Powers Resolution and War Powers Act gives him 60 to 90 days to conduct uh such an operation. And Congress was lawfully notified within 48 hours of the initial incursion. So for Tim Kane or any other Democrat to say this is illegal, especially after so many Democrats, including Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, supported Barack Obama's seven-month war in Libya, is just hypocritical at best. And they are gaslighting the American people when they talk about this.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Well, look, it's not just Democrats, it's Republicans too. I want to drill down with you on this very point. Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah wrote on Wednesday, quote, the Constitution assigns the legislative branch the clear and explicit right to declare war, to accord a president the power to wage an ongoing war without a congressional declaration of war is to render that congressional authority void. Do you agree that if President Trump wants more funding for the war or more time to fight it, that he does in fact need congressional approval?

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Congress has not declared war since World War II. And in fact, we have had numerous operations and conflicts and wars: Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan. Yes, there has been congressional involvement, but the declaration of war itself has not occurred since World War II. But yes, look, as this moves forward, if it goes beyond the 60 to 90 day window, then yes, Congress will need to take necessary action, and I would support that. But this the idea that the administration and our armed forces are not meeting their objectives, or that there wasn't a plan is absurd. The fact is that they have conducted an incredible operation over these last five weeks, eliminating much of the leadership of Iran and the IRGC, obliterating their air defenses, their ballistic missiles program, their drone programs, their naval fleet. These are significant steps that were taken to eliminate the threat posed by a nuclear Iran. And for many of my colleagues who have said for years that Iran could not get a nuclear weapon, that action must be taken to prevent them from doing so. It seems for some of them, those were hollow and empty words, and they didn't actually mean it. After the 60 to 90 day window, which is part of the War Powers Act.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Would you vote for new funding for a war that Congress has not approved?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Look, Congress has continually uh funded military operations. There is an appropriations process to do that. We will go through that process. The administration released its budget. That is not going to be the final budget or appropriations, you know, numbers. As we saw this past January, Congress finalized bipartisan appropriations on eleven of the 12 bills, including uh the Defense Department. And so we will continue to ensure that our armed forces have the resources that they need to conduct military operations. And so we will go through that. So you're a yes, you're a yes appropriate process process.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

You're a yes. You would be a yes for the new.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

I'm a yes. I'm a yes for funding our military and ensuring they have the capabilities to perform their uh operations. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

All right. Let me move now to the funding fight over the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down now for 50 days, the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history. There appears to be a plan to reopen the government. There were days of disagreements between Republican leaders. The Senate did pass a bill. Now it appears as though House Speaker Mike Johnson is on board with trying to get that passed. But Congress is not back until April 14th, Congressman. Is that acceptable to wait that long to fully fund the government, or should House Speaker Mike Johnson call everyone back this week and get the government reopened?

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Kristen, what's not acceptable is that for this fiscal year, Democrats have shut down the Department of Homeland Security for over 90 days, not paying FEMA, not paying the Coast Guard, not paying the Secret Service, and not paying critical operations within the Department of Homeland Security. The fact is, Democrats made a very calculated decision to shut down the Department because they do not want to enforce our immigration laws.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Does he have a responsibility to do so, to bring everyone back to get the government reopened? Does this not fall to Republicans to do this?

SPEAKER_00 7:59

No, Kristen, we have passed Homeland Security funding four times, four times in the last few weeks, and every demonstration. But the Senate passed the bill unanimously. They're not funding the full Department of Homeland Security. They're not funding ICE, they're not funding customs and border patrols. They say that, oh, we passed funding during reconciliation, and we did for much of the operations. But many people within ICE and Customs and Border Patrol, civilians, are not being paid. You cannot defund critical elements of our homeland security. And so we are going to go through this process and not only fund the other components of the department, but we are going to ensure that ICE and Customs and Border Patrol are fully funded. That is what the House and Senate Republican leadership are going to put forth as we come back.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

All right. Well, we'll see how it all unfolds when Congress does come back. Congressman Lawler, appreciate it. Hope you have a fantastic holiday. Thank you so much.