2 Samuel, Chapter 12

And the Lord sent Nathan, Chief of Police, to President Obama.  He came to him and said to him, "There was a murder spree in our city, and many of us believed we knew the murderer.  We were absolutely convinced.  The only trouble is that we did not have the necessary evidence to bring him in.  One of my officers, a good man who has been on the force for many years, was close to one of the victim's families.  That this murderer was at large was eating away at him.  His sense of justice arose within him, crying out for vengeance upon this man.
     "Now, we are a small city near the border of Canada, and one day this officer got a tip that the suspect was holed up in a small house just across the border.  The officer couldn't take it any more and that night he crossed into Canada, taking his gun with him.  He broke into the house and shot the suspect.
     "When we found out, the officer was arrested.  I visited him in jail yesterday.  He knew I was coming to the White House today to see you.  He told me to tell you the story and ask you what he deserves for what he has done."
     And President Obama considered his training in the law for a moment and responded:  "The officer has taken the law into his own hands.  The moment he failed to consider the law and acted against the suspect without sufficient evidence, he broke the law.  He has committed a crime against a man the law considers innocent, however guilty he may actually have been.  He has also acted outside of his jurisdiction and broken the laws of another nation, Canada.  He should lose his job, his badge, be tried for his crimes in a court of law and pay the penalty enforced by the judge.  We cannot have vigilantism.  Nobody can consider themselves above the rule of law in a just society."
     And the Chief of Police said to President Obama, "You are that officer!  The FBI declared that Osama bin Laden was not on their most wanted list because they did not have enough evidence connecting him to the crimes of 9-11.  Legally, Osama bin Laden must be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.  He was found in a house in another country and you ordered him to be killed.  You knew there was not enough evidence for a court trial against the man.  You believed him guilty of mass murder.  Your sense of justice was enflamed against the man.  You had him killed.  You committed murder against a legally innocent person and a war crime against Pakistan by launching a military strike on a target within their sovereign borders.  You have acted as a vigilante, and no matter how just your actions may have been, they were carried out illegally.
     "Should you then lose your job and be tried for your crimes in a court of law as you suggested for the officer?  Are you, the President of the United States, above the law?  I do not say that what you did was wrong, I leave that to the Lord, but what you did was certainly illegal.
     "Your own words convict you:  the foundations of a just society require the rule of law.  Like my fellow Americans, I cannot help but find some measure of consolation when I think that the families of the victims of 9-11 might feel a sense of relief and justice from hearing of bin Laden's death.  But I cannot agree with you that this was a "good day for America".  It cannot be a good day for any society when the rule of law is ignored by its leader.