This story was updated on July 5, 2017

Early in an appearance at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Friday, David Petraeus, the retired general and former CIA director, praised President Trump for a missile strike.

“He has shown a willingness to make decisions. Bashar Assad used chemical weapons. Within 36 hours, 50 cruise missiles hit the airfields from which those were launched. And I thought that was pretty impressive,” Petraeus said. “It was measured. It was proportionate. It was decisive. There was no agonizing. He didn’t throw it to Congress. There were no strolls around the White House grounds.”

Did you catch the significance of that comment?

The use of military force is so disconnected from the Constitution that a former general with a PhD casually praised a president for not going to Congress before waging war.

If Petraeus had disdain for the U.S. Constitution, that would be one kind of problem. But at least arguing against his position would be relatively straightforward. In fact, Petraeus has high regard for the Constitution, and even values the particular part of the Constitution that assigns declarations of war to Congress.

The problem the United States actually faces is different, thornier, and more difficult to combat. And all this is illustrated by an exchange later in Petraeus’s appearance.