SEAN HANNITY

Prisoner Swap The Obama administration negotiated with terrorists to secure the release of an American prisoner held in Afghanistan in exchange for the release of five dangerous detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Has the Obama administration put America at greater risk? Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl went missing from his platoon's outpost in Afghanistan in 2009. He was captured by enemy forces and has been held by Taliban insurgents until this last weekend. The nature of Bergdahl's capture has some of his peers in the military upset, because they believe that he deserted his platoon after growing disillusioned with the war. Emails released by the press suggest this disillusionment and that he was "ashamed to be an American." After he went missing, his fellow Americans went looking for Bergdahl, at least six of whom lost their lives in the process. In order to secure Bergdahl's return, the United States government had to break its policy of negotiating with terrorists. This is very dangerous because it gives legitimacy to these terrorists and to their actions of holding hostages. Now they know that the United States is willing to engage them, which may put more of our military in harms way. Was it worth breaking this precedent and perhaps emboldening our enemies? So, What Did We Do? In exchange for Bergdahl, the United States agreed to release five detainees from Gitmo. These weren't just any detainees either. These are the worst, most dangerous members of the Taliban. You can read more about each of these dangerous terrorists here. These men are wanted around the globe for war crimes, responsible for killing thousands of people. We have released top Taliban officials, whom the Pentagon once labeled as being "high risks" to launch attacks against the United States if released. While they will be under a travel ban for one year, what happens after that? I doubt a one-year ban is going to stop them from seeking to regain power and return to their mission. NBC's counterterrorism analyst Michael Leiter says that this is going to "strengthen the Taliban." In fact, the head of the Taliban Mullah Omar called the release of these Gitmo prisoners "a great victory." Their release, by the way, comes at a time when the Obama administration has just announced a wind-down of our presence in the region. And Why Didn't Anyone Know About This Deal? Who we've agreed to release is bad but there's also the secretive nature of the Obama administration's negotiations, outside of the bounds of the law. Yet again, Obama's executive branch shows a disregard for the rule of law by failing to comply with the law related to prisoner swaps. The law requires the executive branch to inform Congress at least 30 days before a swap occurs. That didn't happen in the case of Bergdahl. Why? The administration claims that this had to be done quickly due to Bergdahl's failing health. Susan Rice said, "It was determined that it was necessary and appropriate not to adhere to the 30-day notification requirement" because of Bergdahl's health. Regardless of the reason in any particular case, there is a reason why these laws exist. Our system is set up with checks and balances in place to make sure that each branch is acting within the law, making the best decisions in our national interests and seeking council from other branches that may provide important insight. But as we've seen with this administration, the rule of law and checks and balances means little in the face of unilateral action, as justifiable as they believe it to be. >>TV Tonight (10pm ET on Fox News) Tonight Rep. Jason Chaffetz on the questions raised about the prisoner swap for Sgt. Bergdahl. Plus Ann Coulter sounds off on negotiating with terrorists. And Sean visits 'Duck Dynasty's' Robertson family