According to the June 18th nytimes.com article, ''2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate'', ''Presidents have the legal authority to override the legal conclusions of the Office of Legal Counsel and to act in a manner that is contrary to its advice, but it is extraordinarily rare for that to happen. Under normal circumstances, the office's interpretation of the law is legally binding on the executive branch.''
Per the nytimes.com article, White House spokesman, Eric Schultz, was quoted as saying: ''It should come as no surprise that there would be some disagreements, even within an administration, regarding the application of a statute that is nearly 40 years old to a unique and evolving conflict. Those disagreements are ordinary and healthy.''
However, Obama's decision was criticized by lawmakers from both parties, and is being compared to a similarly 'illegal' position adopted by President Bush.
According to the June 18th salon.com article, ''Obama rejects top lawyers' legal views on Libya'', Bush chose to reject the advice of his top lawyers that the NSA eavesdropping program was illegal, and ordered it to continue. Like Obama, Bush stood by the opinions of White House counsel and Dick Cheney's top lawyer, David Addington, that the NSA program was in fact legal.
Per the nytimes.com article, House speaker, John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio put it succinctly: ''The administration gave its opinion on the War Powers Resolution, but it didn't answer the questions in my letter as to whether the Office of Legal Counsel agrees with them. The White House says there are no hostilities taking place. Yet we've got drone attacks under way. We're spending $10 million a day. We're part of an effort to drop bombs on Qaddafi's compounds. It just doesn't pass the straight-face test, in my view, that we're not in the midst of hostilities.''
At the end of the day, what the boss wants, the boss gets. An alternative view is that any circumstances can be spun to favor the boss.
In the nytimes.com article, Walter Dellinger, leader of the Office of Legal Counsel during the Clinton administration, while he criticized the decision making process the administration utilized in reaching their conclusions, seemed to say as much in regards to the situation: ''The president always has the power of final decision.''
