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Video at link. (CNSNews.com) - Louis Fisher, a scholar in residence at the Constitution Project who served for 40 years as a constitutional law expert at the Library of Congress, says Americans and members of Congress should understand that President Barack Obama committed a “very grave offense” against the Constitution in taking military action in Libya without congressional authorization. “I am not going to recommend that the House Judiciary Committee hold impeachment hearings, but I would like members of Congress and the public to say that nothing would be more impeachable than a President who takes the country to war...

The White House is telling Congress that President Obama has the legal authority to continue American participation in the NATO-led air war in Libya, even though lawmakers have not authorized it. In a broader package of materials the Obama administration is sending to Congress on Wednesday defending its Libya policy, the White House, for the first time, offers lawmakers and the public an argument for why Mr. Obama has not been violating the War Powers Resolution since May 20. On that day, the Vietnam-era law’s 60-day deadline for terminating unauthorized hostilities appeared to pass. But the White House argued that...

First the debt-ceiling standoff, now this. Man, that’s going to be one awkward golf summit. Dear Mr. President:Five days from now, our country will reach the 90-day mark from the notification to Congress regarding the commencement of the military operation in Libya, which began on March 18, 2011. On June 3, 2011, the House passed a resolution which, among other provisions, made clear that the Administration has not asked for, nor received, Congressional authorization of the mission in Libya. Therefore, it would appear that in five days, the Administration will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution unless it...

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, sent President Obama a letter Tuesday afternoon warning him that the operation in Libya will be violating the War Powers Resolution by this Sunday, which marks the 90th day of U.S. military involvement in the country. Boehner wants "a clear explanation of the legal standing under the War Powers Resolution," that Obama is using to justify continuing the operations behind Sunday. The letter is below. June 14, 2011 Dear Mr. President: Five days from now, our country will reach the 90-day mark from the notification to Congress regarding the commencement of the military operation in...

A bipartisan resolution introduced on the Senate floor Wednesday offered a strong rebuke to President Obama for failing to consult Congress on the mission in Libya. Sponsored by Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the measure admonishes Obama for failing to offer a good argument for the use of armed forces against the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. "The president has failed to provide Congress with a compelling rationale based upon United States national security interests for current United States military activities regarding Libya," it reads. The resolution also...

Q Thursday night, the House -- or Thursday, rather, the House passed a resolution saying that the President has roughly two weeks to provide a whole bunch of information and answer a whole bunch of questions about the Libya military operation with the not-so-veiled threat that the Defense bill is coming up and that funds for that operation could be withheld if answers are not forthcoming. Does the administration intend to answer all of the demands from the House for information? And has the administration sought at all the opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel at Department of Justice,...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Just days after the House passed a bipartisan rebuke of President Barack Obama for sending military force into Libya without congressional approval – White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said they sought no legal opinion on doing so, yet maintained the White House acted within its constitutional bounds.“I’m not aware of any special seeking of guidance that we asked for,” Carney told reporters after he was asked if the White House sought a review from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.“We believe we are acting consistent with the War Powers resolution,” Carney continued. “On the question...

The White House has finally forged a bipartisan consensus in Congress. Unfortunately for President Obama, lawmakers are uniting in opposition to his approach to the ongoing U.S. involvement in the Libyan civil war. Some see the operation as an ill-advised and useless military venture; others argue that Mr. Obama is breaking the law.... The War Powers Resolution comes into effect “in any case in which United States Armed Forces are introduced into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” The plain words of the statute apply to Libya. On April 26 the...

House Floor Remarks, June 3rd M. Speaker: Lets be clear: without prior Congressional authorization, under the War Powers Act, the President may only commit armed forces to hostilities for sixty days if there is a direct attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions or its armed forces. There was none, so there is no sixty day clock and the President’s unprovoked attack on Libya – from Day One – constituted an illegal and unconstitutional act of the highest significance. If the President felt there was moral justification to attack Libya, he was constitutionally required to make his case...

The White House has finally forged a bipartisan consensus in Congress. Unfortunately for President Obama, lawmakers are uniting in opposition to his approach to the ongoing U.S. involvement in the Libyan civil war. Some see the operation as an ill-advised and useless military venture; others argue that Mr. Obama is breaking the law. On Friday the House took up two nonbinding resolutions regarding the Libyan adventure. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, called for the withdrawal of all U.S. military support within 15 days. His resolution attracted 148 votes, 87 of which were from Republicans. A second resolution, submitted by...

Lt. Col. Allen West: Obama’s Libya War Illegal In this wide-ranging C-SPAN interview, Lt. Col. Allen West (R-Florida, and a future President of the United States, if America should be so lucky) points out that Barack Hussein (not a Muslim) Obama is in violation of the War Powers Act, which requires the president to get the approval of Congress for any military operation that lasts more than 60 days. If Congress doesn’t give approval, the Act requires that the military operation stop immediately.From an editorial in the Denver Post: This choice is not merely a preference expressed by Congress in...

In another blatant act of chutzpah President Obama declared that his direction of military action against Libya is so limited it does not have to comply with the War Powers Act. The fact that the operation was lead by the United States in establishing a UN approved No-Fly- Zone, air and missile strikes disappeared down George Orwell’s famous Memory Hole. The passing of the mission to NATO was nothing more than window dressing. May 20th marked the 60th day of military action against Libya and the Administration can only declare the usual rules of war don’t apply to them. Sad...

President Obama launched a U.S. war in Libya two months ago with no congressional approval. Under the Constitution and under the War Powers Act, which allows the president to wage defensive wars for up to 60 days without prior approval, Obama probably broke the law. Now that 60 days have passed since the United States joined the hostilities, Obama's war is more clearly illegal. But nobody should expect this to matter to a president with a long record of disregarding legal and constitutional limits on presidential and federal power. Presidential arrogation of power is nothing new. President George W. Bush's...

IS BARACK OBAMA VIOLATING THE WAR POWERS ACT? - Let’s be honest. If you (my liberal friends) read the following quote at Daily Kos, which name would you choose as the correct answer, George Bush, or Barack Obama? “Is President (fill in the name) about to violate federal law? It’s possible, though the administration is currently exploring several options that would enable a continued presence in Libya without superseding executive powers.” Thanks for playing. It’s been two months since Barack Obama sent a letter to Congress announcing the mission in Libya. Guess what? Captain Awesome’s time frame for securing Congressional...

Republican senators press president on War Powers deadline Washington (CNN) – As the U.S. military campaign in Libya approaches the 60-day mark this Friday, six Republican senators wrote President Obama asking if he will comply with the War Powers Act, which says Congress must authorize action that lasts more than 60 days. "Friday is the final day of the statutory sixty-day period for you to terminate the use of the United States Armed Forces in Libya under the War Powers Resolution. Last week some in your Administration indicated use of the United States Armed Forces will continue indefinitely, while others...

If a recent report by The New York Times is accurate, the Obama administration is attempting to figure out a way to continue bombing Libya without the Congressional approval required by the War Powers Resolution of 1973. The act requires the president to terminate the prosecution of such activities 60 days after formal notification of Congress regarding the deployment of forces "into hostilities or into situation (sic) where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances." The 60 day period ends on May 20th... ...Pentagon officials admitted the issue has been turned over to lawyers who are ostensibly...

Whether you support the overthrow of Dictator Maummar Gaddafi or not, the administration's handling of the situation cannot be described other than horrendous. First, according to critics, the President dithered for over a month on what to do in Libya. He waited for the Arab League to act, then the United Nations... Now, according to the President, the War Powers Act allows the President, at least in the short term, to order the attack, bombing, or infiltration of a foreign country without even notifying Congress, let alone waiting for their approval. That is a nice line and all, but apparently...

A discussion has brewed on the right concerning the War Powers of the Executive Branch. I have read both Woods' "smack down" (his words) and listened to Levin's reasoned debate on his radio show, as well as the relevant Federalist Papers, checking back to see who wrote them, and the constitution itself. I have also read Yoo's discussion and the argument for Bush's war powers in the area of the War on Terror. That said, I have no tolerance for the Ron Paul view, nor many of his followers, not because I'm a huge fan (student) of Mark Levin, but...

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release March 21, 2011 Letter from the President regarding the commencement of operations in Libya TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE March 21, 2011 Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) At approximately 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, on March 19, 2011, at my direction, U.S. military forces commenced operations to assist an international effort authorized by the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council and undertaken with the support of European allies and Arab partners,...

It’s not as if President-elect Barack Obama doesn’t have enough on his plate with a financial meltdown and a home-state scandal. But now he is delving into the thorny question of who can send the country into war. In between interviewing cabinet nominees and announcing health care plans, Mr. Obama plans to meet Thursday with the leaders of a commission that has proposed revamping the legal process for launching military action, to require more consultation between a president and Congress. The proposal would scrap the problematic War Powers Act of 1973, a measure passed in the hangover from Vietnam to...