Greenwald uses Bergdahl to hit Obama, Democrats

[Vattel]

127. Seems like Greenwald has a reasonable position here, although I think the issue is complicated.

Obama certainly violated the letter of the law in transferring the 5 prisoners without the required 30 day notice. Greenwald's point is that if you say that the law in question is void on the grounds that Obama, as CIC, has the constitutional authority to transfer or release detainees captured in war, then you must concede that Obama has always been free to ignore Congressional legislation aimed at tying his hands in relation to transferring prisoners out of Guantanamo. A promising approach to attacking Greenwald's position is suggested by Joshcryer, who argues that Obama's right to ignore the letter of the law in this particular instance was due to the existence of an emergency situation. I don't think that's an easy case to make, but it might work.