By and large, most media accounts of yesterday’s Senate confirmation hearings for Sen. John Kerry‘s appointment to Secretary of State indicate the proceedings were “smooth.” However, Sen. Rand Paul provided one of the few tense moments of the hearings, grilling Sen. Kerry on his support for America’s past unauthorized attacks, his support for unilateral interventions, and his views on what the Constitution allows for military policy.

Sen. Paul began by telling Kerry that he agrees with the 2007 presidential candidate version of Barack Obama who said that the president does not have any constitutional power to unilaterally authorize a military attack. “Do you agree with candidate Barack Obama or do you agree with President Obama who took us to war in Libya without congressional authority, unilaterally?” the Republican senator asked.