The authority for Gates to give combat deployment orders comes from Obama so it doesn’t even matter who GIVES the orders. What matters is where the AUTHORITY comes from, and the need for actual authorization/authority is what is noted in ii of the elements of lawfulness for Article 90.
Without “the President” authorizing the use of force, neither Gates nor anybody else down the chain of command is authorized to use force. Congress gave the authority specifically to “the President”. Absent “the President” there is no authority to use force. That’s according to Congress (SJ Res 23), who gets ITS authority straight from the Constitution.
And that is understood clearly and acknowledged openly if the location of the deployment is Iran. How is Afghanistan any different?
No, the authority for Gates to issue deployment orders comes from Congress via TITLE 10, Subtitle A, PART I, CHAPTER 6, § 162. Gates cannot do so until Obama commits our forces to combat and says how many he will commit. Then Gates needs permission, not an order, from Obama to proceed with his deployment plans.
You’re confusing “authorizing the use of force” with “ordering forces to deploy.”