Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said: “We are concerned that the president is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic, that he might order a nuclear-weapons strike that is wildly out of step with US national-security interests.”
One of the experts, C. Robert Kehler, who was commander of the US Strategic Command from 2011-13, said that in his former role he would have followed the president’s order to carry out the strike – if it were legal.
He said if he were uncertain about its legality, he would have consulted with his own advisers. Under certain circumstances, he explained: “I would have said, ‘I’m not ready to proceed.”
One senator, Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, asked: “Then what happens?” Kehler admitted: “I don’t know.” Another expert, Duke University’s Peter Feaver, a political science professor, explained that a presidential order “requires personnel at all levels” to sign off on it.
It would be vetted by lawyers, as well as by the secretary of defence and individuals serving in the military. “The president cannot by himself push a button and cause missiles to fly,” said Feaver.
