[Maelstrom]

Congress was *not* empowered to aid nor prevent secession.

[WhiskeyPapa]

Congress was *not* empowered to aid nor prevent secession.

Apparently, they were.

Walt

[Non-Sequitur]

No, but the power to admit, remove, or alter the make up of a state was reserved to the Congress in Article IV, Section 3. The unilateral act of secession as practiced by the southern states was illegal.