As a supreme thumb in the eye to Congress, Barack Obama is set to pursue a UN Security Council resolution approving his lousy Iran deal before Congress has a chance to weigh in. The move is significant, and is clearly intended to pressure Congress to bow to Obama’s wishes and, as he put it, “99% of the world community.” The Heritage Foundation’s Brett Schaefer explains, “Once the Security Council takes action on this matter, it will rescind seven painstakingly negotiated Security Council resolutions adopted over the past decade. It will also start the clock on a cascade of sanctions relief commitments by the U.S. and the European Union.” In May, Obama signed into law a deal not to waive sanctions before Congress had at least 60 days to review the Iran deal. But UN action would make reinstating even some of those sanctions almost a laughable idea.

In a letter to Obama, Reps. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) wrote, “It is distressing that your administration would afford Russia and China the opportunity to vote on the final agreement before the American people’s representatives do. The full 60-day review period and parliamentary procedures prescribed by the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act should be allowed to play out before action at the Security Council.” Unfortunately, also a laughable idea is Obama treating Congress as a co-equal branch. He’ll veto a rejection and ignore Congress if his veto is overridden. Then again, Congress itself bares a share of the blame for surrendering some authority over the deal. Now the clock is ticking.