War and the Separation of Powers
The Constitution is clear that only Congress can declare war and only the president can wage it.
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Trump’s Syria Airstrikes are Unconstitutional
While the President certainly is not the first to violate the Constitution on war powers, it’s high time that he becomes the last.
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The Constitution and War Powers: Not a Presidential Dictatorship
The neoconservative argument is based on ignorance or dishonesty. There is no third possibility.
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One Year Later, America’s Airstrike on Syria is Still Illegal
No matter how you slice it, last April’s airstrikes were illegal. The only unanswered question for this new phase in Syria’s war is whether that will matter if the United States conducts a redo.
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Reference Guide: The Constitution and War Powers
Eight articles and two videos on war powers under the Constitution.
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America’s Plunge from Republic to Empire
Despite the War Powers Clause, World War II was the last war for which Congress issued an official declaration of war.
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The Obama Regime Gives Itself Permission To Wage Unlimited War
The Obama Administration looks to limits on its war powers with disdain, at best.
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Obama’s Libyan Operations are Unconstitutional
The Constitution prescribes the rules about how the United States is to enter a war, and the Obama administration has violated those rules.
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Obama’s War on Libya: A Constitutional View
Is Obama’s bombing of Libya Constitutional? Here’s the short answer. Absolutely not.
DetailsThe Sovereign Presidency: Is This What the Framers Had in Mind?
The merest glance at America’s founding suggests that no one really wanted full-bore elective despotism…
DetailsThe Constitution, the Executive Branch and War Powers
In reading the Constitution, we can plainly see that Congress possesses the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, to raise and support armies, to grant letters of marque and reprisal, to provide for the common defense,†and even “to declare war.†Congress shares, with the President, the power to make treaties and to appoint ambassadors. As for the Executive, the President is assigned only two powers relating to foreign affairs; commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the power to receive ambassadors.
The United States Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land in our country, delegates the power to declare war to the Congress and the power to wage war to the President. What that means is that only the Congress, as representatives of the People and of the States, can determine whether or not the nation goes to war. If the People, through Congress, decide that the nation shall go to war, the President then, and only then, has the authority to wage it.
Unless the country is being invaded, if the congress does not declare war against another country, the president is constitutionally barred from waging it, no matter how much he desires to do so. This is, again, shown clearly in the following statements:
DetailsOnly Congress Can Declare War
The framers of the Constitution attempted to balance the power of the President as commander-in-chief with that of Congress, the representatives of the People.
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives to the Executive Branch the command of the nation’s armed forces, while Article I, Section 8 gives to the Legislative Branch the power to decide when the United States goes to war.
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