Actually, he does need permission. The United States led the UNITAF mission, but its troops were withdrawn when Congress invoked the War Powers Act.
In your opinion. What is and is not a "serious threat" to the United States can be rather broadly interpreted. Reagan thought Gaddafi was a serious threat back in 1986 when he ordered a strike without congressional approval, and Gaddafi is still a threat today.
They both should have gotten approval (if they didn't).
I'm not saying we should impeach Obama but we need to respect the constitution.
Other presidents have done this and I think it's about time we draw the line about this stuff.
It's not like Gaddafi is just going to up and declare war on the US, sure he poses a threat but so do a lot of other countries. Just because we "think he might be a threat" doesn't mean we should go in guns blazing. I think Obama sent in armed forces mainly to help the civil war going on which really isn't our business. There are plenty of people in the US that could use the money spent on those bombs. How about we use the money to create jobs, help starving people, and other things. Just my opinion.