What is impulse control?

The ability to make choices about actions based on some more adaptive criteria than the initial impulse itself.

What is a choice in this context? A thought about weighing the costs of possible choices relative to their outcomes.

What is lack of impulse control? Just a different thought, or the absence of the “right” thoughts.

What are the right thoughts? Thoughts that we’ve formed thoughts about and “assigned” a particular status (by thinking).

There is nothing metaphysical here and it all boils down to a really simple question: from where do thoughts arise?

Scientists have observed activity in the brain that is associated with decision making firing up to 10 seconds before the subject became consciously aware of the decision. At a minimum, this raises serious questions about the nature of the decisions we make, and is understandably uncomfortable to consider.

They didn't make an excuse for lack of impulse control at all, they simply claimed responsibility for the action while not taking responsibility for the thought, which is a perfectly reasonable, rational, and adaptive perspective.