Paul: War on Terror Doesn’t Justify Retreat on Civil Rights

In a stinging editorial, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., denounced the passage of a controversial detainee provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that authorizes indefinite military detention of terror suspects.On Wednesday, the Senate easily voted down an effort to remove language in the legislation requiring mandatory detention of people accused of terrorism. Civil rights and liberties groups criticized the provision as unconstitutional and argued itallows the president to unilaterally suspend habeas corpus indefinitely.Paul says detaining citizens without a court trial is un-America and puts every citizen at risk of unlawful imprisonment.From the the Washington Times: The discussion now to suspend certain rights to due process is especially worrisome, given that we are engaged in a war that appears to have no end. Rights given up now cannot be expected to be returned. So we do well to contemplate the diminishment of due process, knowing that the rights we lose now may never be restored. (SNIP) We should not have to sacrifice our liberty to be safe. We cannot allow the rules to change to fit the whims of those in power. The rules, the binding chains of our Constitution, were written so that it didn’t matter who was in power. In fact, they were written to protect us and our rights from those who hold power without good intentions. We are not governed by saints or angels. Our Constitution allows for that. This bill does not.