While you were (hopefully) sleeping at 12:52 this morning, the lights were on in the White House press office.

Why? Because that’s when they sent out a statement announcing that extending the Iran Sanctions Act—one of the very laws that helped bring Iran to the negotiating table—is “unnecessary".

Therefore, the White House explained, “the Iran Sanctions Act is becoming law without the President’s signature.”

Ah yes, a true profile in courage.

Here’s the real story. The administration not-so-privately opposed a ten-year renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act—a law that imposed strong economic sanctions on Tehran’s energy sector. Not only is this law necessary, it is critical to protecting America's interests. But that didn't stop Secretary John Kerry from launching a personal lobbying campaign with Senate Democrats to stop the bill.

The result? A 99-0 vote in the Senate, which followed a 419-1 vote in the House.

This put President Obama in a bind. On one hand, he feared Iranian warnings that an extension would void the nuclear agreement. At the same time, he faced veto-proof majorities in both chambers of Congress.

And that brings us to last night.

By allowing the bill to become law without his signature, President Obama once again signaled to the world that he won’t stand up to the mullahs. Moreover, he missed an important chance to bring Americans together in the face of Iranian aggression. Instead, a midnight press release that epitomized this administration’s legacy of going out of its way to appease our enemies at the expense of our allies.

In any case, the Iran Sanctions Act is now law for another decade. As Speaker Ryan said after signing the bill earlier this month, “Congress must maintain the ability to immediately reinstate sanctions against Iran. Now President-elect Trump will have the opportunity to evaluate our policy towards Iran independent of additional interference from the outgoing administration.”