Presidential War Powers: The Constitutional Answer
by Tom Woods
There’s a lot of confusion, on right and left alike, regarding the president’s war powers under the Constitution. Here’s an overview of the most common claims on behalf of such powers, along with replies to these claims.
“The president has the power to initiate hostilities without consulting Congress.”
Ever since the Korean War, Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution – which refers to the president as the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States” – has been interpreted this way.
But what the framers actually meant by that clause was that once war has been declared, it was the President’s responsibility as commander-in-chief to direct the war. Alexander Hamilton spoke in such terms when he said that the president, although lacking the power to declare war, would have “the direction of war when authorized or begun.” The president acting alone was authorized only to repel sudden attacks (hence the decision to withhold from him only the power to “declare” war, not to “make” war, which was thought to be a necessary emergency power in case of foreign attack).
http://www.libertyclassroom.com/warpowers/
I think we will have to add a few lines of text to the constitution at some point in order to put these sorts of issues to rest. Regardless though, there is no justification for the conflict in Syria because there is no imminent threat to the United States.
Yeah I agree we have to add those lines to make it clear because we are becoming dumber and more corrupt as a nation(look at who we elected twice)
In 1973 they did add something to the war powers act and they gave the president 60 days to do what he wanted before having to go to congress . I don’t they intended for the president to just go off and attack anyone he wanted but I don’t think intentions mean a darn thing to this guy
You would think knowing how lawless this guy is that congress would refrain from giving him more power but they just recently gave him the power to pick up and hold indefinitely any American he deems a threat to national security ... we are now a lawless nation