As cited by the Associated Press, Vice President Dick Cheney appears to have a different take on the US Constitution than that established by the Founding Fathers.

Commenting on the controversy of the Bush Administration conducting warrentless surveillance of Americans, in contravention of the 1978 Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act, Cheney lamented the fact that since the 1970's the office of the President has had much of its power curtailed.

For example, when reporting on Cheney's comments regarding the War Powers Act, the AP stated:

"Cheney told reporters that in his view, presidential authority has been weakened since the 1970s through laws such as the War Powers Act, which Cheney says infringes on presidential authority. "

It is interesting that the Vice President, who holds his office thanks to the provisions of the US Constitution that created the job for him to occupy, shoudl think that a law passed which gives the Executive branch more power than stipulated by the Constitution is somehow a "weakening" of Presidential authority.

The ability to call into action the US military is up to Congress when it does what is Constitutionally accepted, it declares "War" (see Article One of the US Constitution). The "War Powers Act" is actually an EXPANSION of the President's power to use the military, not a constraint or weakening of presidential authority.

Mr. Cheney also believes that the "authorization to conduct military operations" passed by Congress in 2001, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, granted the President broad power to combat terror, in what has been labelled the "War on Terror". It can be noted that Congress never delared war, and that even what it did declare did not grant the President the power to conduct domestic surveillance of Americans.

Having said this, it should be noted that Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter both engaged in this kind of activity. That does not excuse it.

For more on Cheney's arguments see this link:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/12/20/D8EK9JP81.html