Bay Area Democrats are finding brethren among the GOP on Libya. Such is the rising opposition to the excursion among both parties that the White House sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to lobby House Dems to stop a resolution on the House floor today by Florida Republican Tom Rooney that would cut off funds for the operation. A competing resolution would provide congressional authorization for the action.

Republican leaders and anti-war Democrats believe that the president has violated the 1973 War Powers Act and are not buying the White House line that the Libya action does not amount to “hostilities.”

But Bay Area members of the Progressive Caucus such as Mike Honda, Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey who want an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Libya are opposing even the move to cut off funds, arguing that it allows too many exceptions.

They argue that it would “permit the president to continue all the current operations by U.S. Armed Forces. The exemptions include: search and rescue; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; aerial refueling; and operational planning. These exemptions encompass much of what U.S. is already doing. We buy the bombs and the jet fuel, find the targets, and refuel the bombers. All NATO has to do is physically drop the bombs.</p

>”The choices offered to members are either a ‘carte blanche authorization’ or ‘authorization light.’ We urge you to vote no on both resolutions and instead support efforts to cut off all funds for Libya in the 2012 Defense Appropriations bill. The power of the purse is Congress’s ultimate check on the executive branch. “

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass. and John McCain, R-Ariz. are leading the Senate effort to block any action by the House to cut off funds and want to provide Obama with authorization. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been outspoken against the operation from the beginning, arguing that the administration is violating the law. Lugar is leading Senate efforts to limit the scope of the operation.