Sen. Rand Paul spoke out against President Donald Trump's threats to bomb Iran, warning that such an attack may not have the intended effect. ( Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Paul also stressed concern about how the Trump administration would distinguish Iranian protesters from law enforcement if the president were to seek military action.
"How do you drop a bomb in the middle of a crowd or a protest and protect the people there?" Paul asked.
The Republican lawmaker also warned that attacking Iran may unintentionally rally protesters behind the Ayatollah.
"If you bomb the government, do you then rally people to their flag who are upset with the Ayatollah, but then say, 'Well, gosh, we can't have a foreign government invading or bombing our country?'" Paul said.
"It tends to have people rally to the cause," he continued. "So, I think the protests are directed at the Ayatollah, justifiably so."
Paul added: "The best way is to encourage them and say that, of course, we would recognize a government that is a freedom-loving government that allows free elections, but bombing is not the answer."
The liberty-minded senator also affirmed that presidents cannot strike other countries without the approval of Congress.
President Donald Trump warned Iranian leaders that they "better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too." (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Paul has opposed Trump in various instances in recent months when it has come to military strikes, including against Iran and Venezuela.
He helped the Senate advance a resolution last week that would limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela after the U.S. military's recent move to strike the country and capture its president, Nicolás Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican said amounts to war.
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"I think bombing a capital and removing the head of state is, by all definitions, war," Paul told reporters before the vote last week. "Does this mean we have carte blanche that the president can make the decision any time, anywhere, to invade a foreign country and remove people that we’ve accused of a crime?"
Paul has also criticized the administration's military strikes on boats near Venezuela it accuses, without evidence, of carrying narco-terrorists, raising concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people. The senator previously cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rand-paul-says-trumps-threat-bomb-iran-is-not-answer-not-job-american-government