Rep. Ron Paul: Torture, War, and Presidential Powers

"Legal issues aside, the American people and government should never abide the use of torture by our military or intelligence agencies.  A decent society never accepts or justifies torture.  It dehumanizes both torturer and victim, yet seldom produces reliable intelligence.  Torture by rogue American troops or agents puts all Americans at risk, especially our rank-and-file soldiers stationed in dozens of dangerous places around the globe.  God forbid terrorists take American soldiers or travelers hostage and torture them as some kind of sick retaliation for Abu Gharib.
The greater issue presented by the Defense department memo, however, is the threat posed by unchecked executive power.  Defense department lawyers essentially argue that a president’s powers as Commander-In-Chief override federal laws prohibiting torture, and the Justice department appears to agree.  But the argument for extraordinary wartime executive powers has been made time and time again, always with bad results and the loss of our liberties.  War has been used by presidents to excuse the imprisonment of American citizens of Japanese descent, to silence speech, to suspend habeas corpus, and even to control entire private industries. 
It is precisely during times of relative crisis that we should adhere most closely to the Constitution, not abandon it.  War does not justify the suspension of torture laws any more than it justifies the suspension of murder laws, the suspension of due process, or the suspension of the Second amendment. . . .
Conservatives should understand that the power given the president today will pass to the president’s successors, who may be only too eager to abuse that unbridled power domestically to destroy their political enemies.  Remember the anger directed at President Clinton for acting “above the law” when it came to federal perjury charges?  An imperial presidency threatens all of us who oppose unlimited state power over our lives.
A strong separation of powers is at the heart of our constitutional liberties.  No branch of government should be able to act unilaterally, no matter how cumbersome the legislative process may be.  The beauty of the Constitution is that it encourages some degree of gridlock in government, making it harder for any branch to act capriciously or secretly.  When we give any president- one man- too much power, we build a foundation for future tyranny."