Tom Cotton: ‘Surprised’ Hillary Clinton not standing up for constitutional powers of Congress

Sen. Tom Cotton shot back at former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Wednesday evening after Mrs. Clinton tweeted her displeasure about an open letter led by Mr. Cotton and signed by 46 other Republican senators warning Iranian leaders that any deal over the country’s nuclear program could be undone by the next president.

“The U.S. Senate is focused on stopping Iran from getting a nuclear bomb — not just today and tomorrow, but 10 years and 15 years from now,” Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said on Fox News’ “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”

The letter was met with condemnation from congressional Democrats, the White House, Secretary of State John Kerry and Mrs. Clinton, among others.

“GOP letter to Iranian clerics undermines American leadership. No one considering running for commander-in-chief should be signing on,” she tweeted Wednesday.

Several potential presidential contenders on the Republican side, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, signed the letter.

“I’m surprised that Secretary Clinton, who herself was a senator, is not standing up for the constitutional powers of the Congress. I’m sure when she was in the Senate she felt differently,” he said. “I think it’s important for the American people to know that Secretary Clinton supports Barack Obama’s approach to these negotiations and supports the terms of the deal that would allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon.”

Mr. Obama recently told CBS News he’d be willing to walk away from a deal if certain conditions aren’t met.

“If we cannot verify that they are not going to obtain a nuclear weapon, that there’s a breakout period, so that even if they cheated we would be able to have enough time to take action, if we don’t have that kind of deal, then we’re not going to take it,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Cotton said he had “no regrets at all” about the methodology.

“We’re trying to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and Iran has to understand that the Congress will protect the American people from a bad deal as they have been doing for 200 years and as our founding fathers have envisioned,” he said.