GOP Congressmen to Obama: Sign Patriot Act with Real Pen

President Barack Obama authorized the Patriot Act renewal with an automatic signing machine, as he was in France the night it was signed. And now 21 Republican congressmen are urging him to re-sign it with a regular pen, The Hill reports.

The group sent him a letter to that effect Friday. A few weeks ago, Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., whose signature appears first on the letter, questioned whether the robo-pen carries the same legal status as Obama physically signing the legislation.

"On May 27, 2011, Congressman Tom Graves wrote you to request an explanation for your Constitutional authority to assign a surrogate the responsibility of signing bills passed by Congress into law" the letter reads. "As of today, Congressman Graves has yet to receive a response from the White House."