NC is correct. Congress killed Lincoln's attempts for a habeas corpus law for two whole years. A Federal court made note of this fact in September 1862 when yet another habeas corpus case was decided against Lincoln:
When the counsel for the petitioner, some days since, suggested that he desired to apply for a writ of habeas corpus to bring up the body of the petitioner, I had the impression that congress, at its last session, had passed an act authorizing the president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and that he had sanctioned the order of the war department under such authority. If this had been the case, I should have held it to be my duty to refuse a writ, in a case within the scope of the law of congress, and the order of the president; but having, since that suggestion was made, received the acts of the last session, I find that I was mistaken, and that congress has passed no law on this subject. The question of the power of the president to suspend the privilege of habeas corpus, without the authority of congress, is therefore presented in this case, if the order of the war department is deemed to be the order of the president, and to extend to such a case as that now under consideration. (Ex Parte Benedict, 1862)
As I stated earlier, Congress took its time - that's called "deliberative democracy." The proposed joint resolution, SR-1, became the basis for discussion, debate, and further legislation.
The fact of the matter is that it did not matter how long Congress took, as long as it acted. Had Congress not acted, then the discussion would be based on entirely different principles. As it was, Congress and the President agreed on the course the nation should take in subduing the insurrection, and those who would support that insurrection.