the solution is not letting less but getting disciplined about spending, and that is my "2 cents more." that is it for tonight on "the willis report." have a great night, and we will see you back here tomorrow. ♪ ♪ lou: good evening, everybody. thank you for being with us. we are in the midst of an unusual circumstance in dilemma. president obama's says he has decided to attack syria, but he has also asked congress for approval before taking such action. the 535 members of the congress and said began their hearings over whether to strike syria over alleged chemical weapons use. already the house speaker, majority leader have consented to the president's plan, which he promises will be limited and proportionate. without american troops being involved at all on the ground.

amelia in full support of the president. the president has not succeeded in forming a consensus among the powerful chairman of the committees in the house. at least one democratic chair in the senate disagrees with the president's approach. in the house president select committee on intelligence chairman mike rogers welcomed the responsibility for the vote. the michigan republican said, at the end of the day, congress will rise to the occasion and approved a strike on syriaa his counterpart in the senate wants president obama to make that decision himself and tell chair senator dianne feinstein telling time magazine that there is no need for a vote. senate armed services committee remains undecided on a military strike. telling reuters he would rather see stepped up to support to

what he calls vetted elements of assad opposition. the ranking republican on that committee is composed of right. i continue to oppose military action in syria because i am deeply concerned about the state of the military. this before blasting fellow senators for their support of a unilateral strike against syria without congressional consent. and senate foreign relations committee chairman bob menendez overseeing testimony today by secretary of state john kerry, defense secretary jack hegel, and joint chiefs chairman general martin dempsey. menendez offering support for the president's call to action after highlighting his previous opposition to the iraqi in afghanistan wars. house foreign relations committee chairman and royce and house armed services committee chairman buck mckeon both said

they are undecided. according to two brand new polls, the american people are decided. clearly opposed to the white house. abc news "washington post" poll found six in ten americans are opposed to intervention with a whopping 70 percent opposed st and a new pupil finds that 48 percent oppose strikes on syria with only 29 percent support for the president's position. foreign relations committee member senator rand paul summed up what many americans are field. take a listen. >> if we do not say that the constitution applies, if we do not say explicitly that we will abide by this vote, you are making a joke of us. you are making us into the air. we played constitutional theater for the president. if this is real, you will abide by the verdict of congress. you will probably win. just go ahead and say it is real

lou: the senator said much more. we will have for you a revelatory, dramatic exchange between senator paul and the secretary of state as we examine whether, indeed, the president has the constitutional power to attack a nation without the support of either congress or the american people. we will take up these issues tonight with retired four-star army general jack sheehan, former pentagon official k. t. mcfarland, a retired lieutenant colonel oliver north among our guests. we begin with the extraordinary approach taken by president obama, declaring he made a decision to attack but turning at the same time to congress for their reproval after making the case over the weekend that he is the only one with legal authority to proceed with military action against syria. fox news chief white house correspondent ed henry has our report. >> i am going to be working with

congress. >> reporter: remove for president obama who pavlov makers at arm's length for nearly five years, often bypassing them. now he is on defense and needs congress to help authorize the u.s. military mission in syria, so he is finally starting to make his case. >> i am a decision that america should take action, but i'll also believe that we will be much more effective, stronger if we take action together as one nation. >> reporter: the president said he is confident the resolution will pass, though behind the scenes his aides are still worried about the potential for a crushing defeat. some of the president's top campaign advisers visited the white house today for a long strategy session. the president himself cannot attend, but his white house staff got advice from longtime adviser and former white house press secretary robert gibbs was one attendee telling fox that

they kick around ideas like whether mr. obama's to do a more formal address to the nation. attendees also included the former chief white house speech writer john farrow and former white house national security spokesman. the white house got a boost when republican speaker backed mr. obama. >> i will support the president's call for action. i believe that my colleagues should support this call for action. >> reporter: get is a politically risky move and unclear how many republicans will follow up, especially since his spokesman quickly downplay the endorsement but declared that now is the president's responsibility to make his case to the american people and their elected representatives.

>> very little has occurred. >> reporter: the president indicated he heard the message and will not just an to degrade@ the syrian military. >> we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition. >> reporter: while the speaker gave his backing, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, facing a tough reelection back home, still not taking sides. a sign that this is an uphill battle. one top official told me as of tonight the administration has no idea how the vote will turn out. lou: thank you. joining us now, general jack keene, retired four-star army general, former vice chief of staff, also fox is military analyst. let's begin with this statement about limited and proportionate strikes.

as senator kerry, secretary of state carry today acknowledged, they are giving serious notice that this will be limited duration, it will not be a significant strike in the minds of many which would be defined by killing or removing assad from power. >> i am not certain i understand all of it myself, to be frank. we know what those words mean, but we do not know what they mean as apply to military intervention. frankly, it is limited in duration. we know it will take a night or two to do what they need to do. at most, three or four. that has more to do with asssssing the target. and suddenly the proportionality of it seems to be fixated on deterring the use of chemical

weapons and also degrading the capability, but it is undefined what that is. i would imagine that tomorrow in closed session the senators voted real detail on what those targets are and the scale of them. i would hope that this is more than what is being stated. if we are going to take this military intervention it should be some give it enough to change the momentum assad has over opposition forces and start to move in their direction. certainly, and the president has said this now twice. they both talks to me last night about it. he said it publicly. they intend to upgrade the opposition forces, funding and hopefully with weapons. and you mentioned in the introduction, despite the decision to provide arms to them 90 days ago, they have not

received a single one. this is very curious as to what truly is the intent. in my judgment what is needed is a commitment to conduct a military intervention in significantly degrades the capacity of assad and also to significantly arm and provide assistance to the opposition forces, not just militarily, but enable them politically and economically as well. lou: it occurs that this country is capable of doing whatever it wishes to syria, president assad. having that capacity and inordinate technological military a advantage over syria, did we have also a higher standard of conduct and a moral burden to be certain that we are not acting unilaterally, that we are not asserting ourselves as

the arbiters of values across of this globe but rather as a member of an international community, whether that is representative of the united nations or nato or whether it be with the arab league, but to act unilaterally by establishing our dictate as the standard, of very difficult thing for americans, as we have just shown in the polls, to accept. we are not a nation that simply because we have the power uses it. not the people he should never play at war. because we can standoff with our tom hawk missiles and rain destruction on a target, if not an enemy, it does not make it right, this is? >> i certainly believe that there is an international convention against the use of conoco weapons and certainly you would think that we would be able to get more people to participate in this. the president's did go to the

united nations. with the opposition of russia and china, they have not supported anything that we needed to do in two plus years as it applies to syria. that's kind of opposition. they are, frankly, not much help what is really disappointing is the arab league. this happened in their backyard. chemical weapons were used on arabs. the fact of the matter is they have not stepped up as the arab league. they have condemned it, what they have not stepped up advocating the use of force. some will participate, but there will not do it as a coalition. i find that disappointing. on the european side i have problems for a long time. henry kissinger has been right, saying for 20 years that no longer can national leaders in europe as their people to sacrifice for anything that does

not happen in their backyard. the war's end of the other things we have dealt with, i think that is pretty accurate. it does fall to the united states at times to step up and have to deal with the challenges in the world and stability when it certainly is in our national interest. i believe this is related to our national interest. lou: always good to talk with you. thank you for being here. >> thank you very much. much more on the situation in syria. lou: we assess what is happening in washington d.c. and what will happen in syria next. stay with us. president obama says he has the authority to strike syria, but he wants congressional approval anyway. a fox news legal analyst tells us whether our commander in chief really does have those powers next. ♪

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♪ lou: the constitutionality of the president's authority to attack syria is one of the hottest topics in the senate armed services committee hearing today. senator rand paul challenged the secretary of state on precisely that issue. >> i want to be proud of the president, but every time i am just about their ragged glory that he does not mean it and is going to sort of a way the constitution if he wins. i urge the secretary say, if we win, short. if we lose, what? make me proud. stand up and say you will obey the constitution. if we vote you down you go with

what the people say and would not go forward with the war that congress votes against. can you give me a better answer? >> i cannot give you a different answer than the one i gave you. i will tell you this, it ought to make you proud. he would be in keeping with the constitution. >> i disagree. i do not agree he has the constitutional authority. madison was explicit. he wrote that history supposes or the constitution supposes would history demonstrates. the executive, the brand's most likely to go to war and therefore the constitution vested that power in the congress. this power it is a congressional power, not an executive power. they did not say big, small, boots on the grrund.

they said declare war. ask the people on the ships launching the missiles where they're involved with war are not. lou: joining us now, i talked to was a terrific exchange. and in precise language she is exactly correct about what the powers of war reside. and now we have something called the war powers act. >> a resolution that was passed which said to the president, basically you have a window above 60 to 90 days. go to congress, not for declaring war, but to go in a hostile environment. you have to report to congress within 48 hours you have 60 days . if congress does not then accept what you're doing, you have tens

cease unless congress declares war. lou: this president has said in his administration, we should attack syria, but he once the approval of congress. implicit, if not actually stated , he has made the decision to do so. therefore because we should he will, but he once the approval of congress. >> that is a political cover rather than legal. he has the legal cover. he does not need to get to congress. he does not need to. lou: having done so. >> of congress says no he can go back to the war powers act. lou: you're saying this is a farce. >> it is political cover. clearly. if you wanted to go he would never have had to go. lou: you're saying that the senator was exactly right.

we are witnessing political theater in the guise of of commander in chief seeking the approval of congress which would be entirely correct. >> it becomes political cover. he does not have to go through the war powers act. here's the question. asking congress then to actually, you know, state that this is a war as opposed to five. lou: you attac matter your superiority, you are committing an act of war. there is no wiggle room. >> but there was. that was the whole big legal issue. all of the issues, criminals. lou: consider this possibility. the 1973 war powers act, this

would be interesting. this would give, and it would seem to me, the senate and house standing to sue the president and to take it before the supreme court to see whether or not the war powers act itself is constitutional. >> and a think you're right. what this president did the other presidents have not. he went to congress. he went to congress rather than going unilaterally, rather than going it alone. that is what he could have done. now he said of something or if congress comes back and says no, we are at a stalemate. does he go back? lou: this may have the law of unintended consequences. this may be one time in which the law of unintended consequences benefits the law itself, and this case the constitution. to me it is clearly a matter of common sense, and the purpose of

our founders. the 1973 war powers act is an abomination. >> presidents have gone in. lou: president after president have participated in farces of all kinds. the fact is that this might have a very positive results. >> only if congress does not give approval. lou: if things are right in my estimation, they seem right to me. >> we will see. lou: let's hope so. i will take that burden off of you. we appreciated, as always. to you think we will have a test of any kind? >> i'm not sure. a quiz after the show. lou: what? >> a quiz after the show. at this point it is looking like

congress is going to allow this to go forward. even if they don't. lou: it will be moved. >> it will. lou: we will see. thank you. turning to wall street, stocks picking of the month in a black. the dow jones industrials gaining 24, s&p up seven, nasdaq of 23. volume, over three and half million shares. stocks boosted by upbeat economic reports as the manufacturing sector ggew at the fastest pace in more than two years while construction spending rose $0.6 of a percent in july to nuys level in four years. big tech deals moving the market. shares of nokia gaining after microsoft agreed to buy most of their phone business. it technology communications steel. just about seven and a half billion the year -- seven have billion dollars. shares of microsoft down. shareholders not excited about the terms.

verizon falling nearly 3% after it agreed to buy out a stake paying $130 billion. down -- excuse me. there were up solidly on the day taking a look at the weekend box office. throngs of teenage fans, lee daniels the bubbler taking first place bringing in $20 million. that makes it the first movie of the year to top the box office for three weekends in a row. second place going to the board banned documentary, the one we have all been waiting for. one direction this is of. warner brothers came in third, just under 16 million. officially closing out what was a record-breaking summer for the movie industry with cost 5 billion in revenue and more

than 10% increase from last year a way to go. up next, no foreign coalition the speaker of. little support from the american public. president obama pushing congress , apparently with some success, to let him attack syria. in the "chalk talk," i'll show you why syria is going to be another obama foreign policy failure. stay with us. we're coming right back. ♪ but tracking all the action and hearing everything from our marketing partners, the media and millions of fans on social mea can be a challenge. that's why we partnered with hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. hp's technology helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into real-time business insights that help nascar win with our fans.

>> we have been talking about the president's plan to get crash -- congressional approval of get serial long dash syria not knowing if he will succeed but he does require backing because right now he stations alone not just at home but internationally. take a look at where the closest allies stand right now that the president seeks approval for with the parliament last week voted against military action. absolutely ruling out another vote. germany says it is out the matter what.

their election is our three weeks away. that leaves france as the only potential ally. the president said he is waiting for a decision on congress before he would act for our enemies they're not keeping quiet syria is a and enemy because this president wants to attack them and that makes it clear. added the? that is preciiely what syria is as our commander-in-chief has declared them so. president al-assad called the obama weekend in new interview with the french publication in the obama said get out. i rates and an enemy? payback and reprisals for the united states and israel if president obama orders

attacks against syria and russia. that is precisely what this president is thinking and acting and the leaders are mocking the obama administration which has yet to be coherent or explicit in its strike against syria. president putin will now send a delegation to the space this week to lobby congress to vote against such a strike. just one word of advice advice, listen to the american people first. six out of ted oppose your idea. according to the news fox news abc poll. critics remember all too well your bravado of libya when you said intervention there with last days not weeks or months but that intervention that lasted six

months it cost nearly $2 billion. president obama defiant saying it would be limited proportional strike against syria. colonel vault -- colonel oliver north tells us what oliver north tells us what that means. a better opportunity for your business, a better legacy to leave the world. we have always believed in this pursuit, striving to bring insight to every investment, and integrity to every plan. we are morgan stanley. and we're ready to work for you.

lou: the obama administration to win approval from congress with the proposed strike against syria he claims the consequences would be greater than the consequences of a military strike joining us now is the colonel oliver north and former pentagon official figure for being here.

start with the consequences of not being greater? i have heard this somewhere along the lines. >> feeling saying worse than not acting is acting to get a wrong. they've made out the case why we should do something but they did not say how. arcade tucci terror? how is the un military strike limited? and how will that succeed? whht if we take military action and aside calls a bluff one more time? then it does obama say i will raise you did we get involved like the vietnam war? lou: why isn't the president talking to the people? defense secretary hegel comment john kerry, a

spokesman but the president himself is not making a case to the american people to use of military power against these sovereign nation the matter how heinous the leadership. >> i thank you will agree when president reagan went to make the point he went to the people. when he wanted of reagan defense budget he always went to congress in the american people directly. lou: what is the point death being the commander in chief if you don't address the people? this is not a trivial matter >> no. not at all. john kerry former activist is now the leading hawk of the obama team it is clear they make it up as they go along. you said you heard a lot that you saw hegel and the

chairman be did not hear much when senator corker said white nobody is authorized from the president john kerry and chuck hegel waffle they said the opposition has broadened the authorization would support the resistance but in fact, the objective is do deter assad from using chemical weapons to send a message to other terrorists then they went on to say it is a limited time and scope and duration to include ivory and and all the others there will not be boots on the ground. >> can get we have heard the speaker of the house and eric cantor the majority leader both men could not wait to rush to make their statements in front of the

cameras where is the opposition? >> there is no skipjacks and the closest you have is frank wolf could have been pleading for a special committee to investigate benghazi. guess what has been swept under the rug? assad has three chemical weapons delivery system artillery, aircraft and missiles as big as skeds the leeway to detour that threat is a constant stare with remotely powered aircraft with an immediate response or drones. that means we would have to look at the anti-aircraft system because all they want is not to negotiate a settlement but that they

have the base tardis steel ltd. keep that base is to keep assad in power he has put all deployable assets into that base because he knows we will not shoot at it. lou: that base is a facility relatively small to provide service but here is the point russia remains the enigma with a loose calculus i can't imagine what obama calls the poor fellow in the back of the classroom. we would not seize the opportunity to have a prolonged presence for the

united states military is an syria? if he ever got the opportunity. >> luckily we talk about now. the administration says it would be short torrey couple of days but that is what they said about libya. lou: that cost 1.7 billion rethink as a close estimate but the consequences of libya our with us today. congressman wolf is exactly right. to weariful one investigation and the fact of the matter is this administration is stonewalling. how can anyone give credence to what they promise or stipulate? colonel? very quickly. >> two or three days of cruise missile attacks will not change the dynamic is

not a strategy. bottom line is administration eight-- left to the 9/11 anniversary nothing to do to improve security. god help us. >> syria is the beginning of the middle east conflict we do not belong in the middle of this fight if we had our own energy independence then they could go at each other then we are not in the middle. lou: it strikes me every single day with the frustration that is an enemy right now. they should have been a collaborator and cooperative relationship should have been built by this administration it should they the plans to extricate from the region rather than those that have a further

conflict. colonel north, thank you as always. go to our web site fox business., and take a look at the two huge deals that i just reported in the mobile phone market we will have the latest on fox business., and for what is called justice department retaliation over the downgrade of the u.s. debt. up next to dave big swings on wall street we will find out what it all means. next.

mahler denis and then hall

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all little bullish is that insightful on my part? >> what happened was better than expected economic data. that is something to get your arms around it is hard with syria but if they tell you that business was better that is something you can understand if the spending in july that is understandable but to believe what is believable but to ponder what is happening in syria. lou: how much of added is the overhang? >> the important thing of the middle east situation is gasoline prices. distinguish between that and oil but for the time being you have supplies of gasoline so this really has not hit the consumer

big-time but if that starts to happen then is a whole different ballgame with how the middle east crisis affects the economy. lou: now in the magic, the september is the fed silly enough to taper in the face of syria or the upswing of prices for gasoline? i'm sure there is no more fighting about unemployment. >> first of all, i think that the unemployment rate is as 7.4% jobs at 170,000. the economy looks good the death to withdraw some of the stimulus that they will do that with a caveat. if this does not work we can go back. it will be an announcement

of the tentative move to say there is the escape clause if things are worse than expected we pump more money again. lou: as always, what will the market do for the rest of the year? >> it will do better. stocks before bonds. lou: wonderful. i like that direct forecast and i am crushed on time. thank you the new book looking at college football is back. what a season is under way already. any last requests mr. baldwin? do you mind grabbing my phone and opening the capital one purchase eraser? i need to redeem some venture miles before my demise. okay. it's easy to erase any recent travel expense i want. just pick that flight right there. mmm hmmm. give it a few taps, and...it's taken care of.

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lou: college football is back and if you are a fair

and this will be quite a season. my next guest says college football is in grave danger on the brink of losing its soul we have the "new york times" best selling author and his new book forth and a long. there is. we recommend it highly. great to have you here. congratulations on the book. people say it is a struggle for the soul but you mean exactly what you say. >> the players and fans on this side in a love for the sport this tug-of-war they used to be back and forth they just drive the players and the fans through the muddy eventually they will say enough and they get the money rope -- muddy broke. lou: why is the n.c.a.a. is

oblivious to what is happening to their sport? >> they are impervious. they were sheriffs in 1905 that was a guide to march madness they realize there is more money in rule keeping them being the sheriff now with the budget exactly 1% those back but now 99 percent is the saloonkeeper then you have a built in the conflict of interest. lou: i watched florida state last night, at texas a&m getting thrown out of the game after coming in from the suspension on the first half. there is drama and great talent such extraordinary talent how can we watch these people screw up something so terrific? >> style love this sport our

love is a rational. johnny football is a case obviously the players as cynical as i get ivied the players at penn state and northwestern and also ohio state will meet those players who have to be reassured the future of the gave a fair the future but the adults are in charge of about one said with a crisis management of keeping the team to gather the players to handle it better than the adults did that explains almost all college football in this book. lou: penn state all that with her in what is yet to come how are they handling it? >> bat program was far

closer to full collapse than people realize we are about to leave they had one week to get ahold team together and they saved this season that may have been one of the most inspiring stories and have never seen how they held that squad together. lou: how did that resolve? graphing under the table or the of fronts tiepin? is a time for the n.c.a.a. to pay the player? >> until you have a bonafide league with hockey and baseball there's only one way to get them is through college and makes no sense. there will be a crisis point sooner or later we're it blows up. lou: there is. we recommend a highly it is available on line and bookstores near you.

that is it for us tomorrow we will talk about syria in the military implication. good night from new york.

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we do whatever it takes to make your business our business. od. helping the world keep promise >> forget if we ever launched missiles focus on issues stacking up like plain salad or via. welcome, everybody. i am neil cavuto. add a possible war with syria with the congress to do less. with the budget deadline and a debt limit deadline a and a fund obamacare deadline than the immigration reform deadline and so many others as if they were not enough enough, and now this. i want to move beyond this fixation with syria. of using it is about syria and do you think it is about a president who's suddenly cares about not going