Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., sent a letter to the Joint Chiefs of Staff last month, also signed by 15 of his fellow GOP congressman, urging the military leaders to “seek appropriate legal advice before following any executive order to transfer Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) detainees to the United States.” Pompeo told the Center for Security Policy’s Frank Gaffney yesterday that the letter was a way of telling service members that members of Congress “have their back” if they choose to defy an executive order meant to close the detention facility.

“It’s unconscionable to put our military leaders in this position, where the commander in chief asks of them something that is unlawful,” Pompeo told Gaffney. “And my intention was not to put pressure on those amazing soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, but rather to inform everyone that you can’t ask folks in the military to execute an unlawful order. And I hope that they understand that there members of Congress that have their back in the event that they choose to make a decision that comports with their duty.”