Johnson: US Libya Involvement Unconstitutional

The congressman representing east-central Illinois is vehemently against any US involvement in the deepening conflict in Libya.

Even before the United Nations Security Council approved a no-fly zone over the country, 15th district Republican Tim Johnson had voiced opposition to sending American troops there. Now, he says Congress should try to defund the effort after voting to ease the nation's budget deficit.

"Now we face the very clear reality of eliminating all those cuts with the additional amount of money we're going to expend on an incursion into a part of the world that doesn't threaten America -- that is number one -- number two is clearly an unconstitutional action, and number three is very unwise public policy,"Johnson said.

Johnson said Congress has been in recess, so it hasn't come up with any response to President Obama's decision to send warplanes over Libya. In fact, Johnson accuses Obama of deliberately waiting until the recess to take action.

The congressman said American troops should not be anywhere that does not affect US interests, including Iraq or Afghanistan.