Civil rights are alive and the terrorists are dead -- now that's a great idea!

"Radical Islamic Terrorism must be stopped by whatever means necessary! The courts must give us back our protective rights. Have to be tough!"

This was President Trump's Twitter reaction to the two terrorist attacks in Catalunya last week. The more deadly attack, which killed 13 and injured 100 people, had taken place Thursday on La Rambla, the pleasant tree-lined pedestrian mall in Barcelona, Spain that tourists flock to and locals enjoy.

Trump's tweet is open to interpretation. What did he mean with the words "by whatever means necessary," and precisely what "protective rights" was he referring to? One could take it as a simple expression of determination to tighten immigration policy and restore Trump's right to set it after a number of court decisions throwing it into question.

Border security can and should be tightened. America's "in door" is the best place to screen out terrorists, and if that's what Trump meant, we applaud him.

We hope Trump does not mean a curtailment of constitutional liberties, or to imply that courts have taken away too much enforcement power by upholding those liberties. In that context, it could mean he believes further intrusions are justified in the face of an obdurately nettlesome threat.