WASHINGTON - The White House insisted on Wednesday that President Barack Obama has the legal authority to press on with US military involvement in Libya and urged skeptical lawmakers not to send "mixed messages" about their commitment to the NATO-led air war.
Obama administration officials, sending a lengthy legal justification to Congress, argued that the president had the constitutional power to continue the US military role in Libya even though lawmakers had not authorized it.
Tensions between Obama and Congress over the Libya conflict reflected unease among some lawmakers over US entanglement in a third conflict in the Muslim world along with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and pressure for him to clarify US goals in the north African country.
