Mark Halperin

We're all seeing through a glass darkly about who they are and what they believe in and whether negotiation could be possible.

If you were in Tehran and having a conversation with whoever the leaders are, what would you say to them?

You just raised two issues that I want to ask you about.

One is the absence of a robust public debate before the United States committed to going to conflict with Iran.

And the other is the debt and the deficit.

You ran for president.

You care about being a leader on these conversations.

But I know it matters to you and your kids and your grandkids someday that there actually be a change, that those two things get addressed rather than just Rand Paul getting to talk about them.

And on those two points, you speak for tens of millions.

Tens of millions are horrified that there was no national debate across the political spectrum.

Tens of millions think the future of this country is imperiled more than by anything else, debt and deficit.

So let's talk about the war debate.

Other presidents of both parties have taken the country to war without a robust debate or congressional approval.

What's the practical way to change that?

What's the practical way?

Is it electing members of Congress who promise to do it?

Is it finding the rare president who's willing to do it?

How can the country be different on that score?

Senator, I agree with everything you said, and I think it's well stated about both the history and the current practice.

But I'm going to ask you again, respectfully, you didn't say how it could change.