As long as certain American citizens side with terrorist forces, and choose to live outside of United States jurisdiction, then American forces will have little choice but to attack them with stealth.
Anwar al-Awlaki posed a grave threat to this country. As an al-Qaeda operative with headquarters in Yemen, the young cleric harassed a nation already suffering through intense political strife, but also he coordinated terrorist plots against the United States, including the ill-fated underwear bombing from Christmas 2009.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul expressed grave concern about sending military troops to target one American, who as a citizen enjoys certain rights under the Constitution. Despite the legitimate nature of this concern, we cannot lose sight of the fact that this country is waging a different type of war, one with an enemy agent who transcends, or rather descends, below the accustomed conflicts that afflict nations.
Indeed, everyone has a vested interest im Congress asserting requisite authority to keep the President in check, to prevent him from waging an arbitrary war according to a petty enemies list. Yet if we attack non-national agressors, and invididual Americans choose to join ranks — at their own peril — with such cowardly malefactors, then the United States government has every right and necessity to neutralize them.