Moreover, many forget that the day before Bush signed the AUMF into law he also signed a Memorandum of Notification (MON) that remains in effect to this day. Former long-time CIA counterterrorism lawyer John Rizzo described it as „the most comprehensive, most ambitious, most aggressive, and most risky Finding or MON I was ever involved in. One short paragraph authorized the capture and detention of Al Qaeda terrorists, another authorized taking lethal action against them.“

The public has never seen this 2001 MON, but presumably it could cover all CIA drone strikes, military operations conducted under Title 50 (covert) authorities against al Qaeda affiliates, or NSA cyberattacks against suspected terror groups.