[rustbucket]

It was legal for the U.S. Congress to do so as well. [suspend habeas corpus]

Correct, but Lincoln didn't have that power. Again I ask, if Lincoln had the power to suspend habeas corpus in 1861, why did Congress feel they had to authorize him to do so in 1863?

[Gianni]

Again I ask, if Lincoln had the power to suspend habeas corpus in 1861, why did Congress feel they had to authorize him to do so in 1863?

I caution you on your wording. Congress did not authorize him to do so, but rather indemnified him for having done so.

The difference may be slight, but whenever I'm inexact in my phraseology (sp?), I'm made to pay for it later.

[Non-Sequitur]

Correct, but Lincoln didn't have that power. Again I ask, if Lincoln had the power to suspend habeas corpus in 1861, why did Congress feel they had to authorize him to do so in 1863?

I'm not sure. Absent a ruling by the Supreme Court there was no reason for them to do so. Lincoln may well have had the authority to suspend it.