There’s a real threat in the foreseeable future of massively destructive cyberwar. We do need some mechanism for the Commander-in-Chief to take emergency action, but we also need a strong mechanism to protect against abuse of that power. I’d propose requiring a majority vote of Supreme Court justices, with any or all of the evidence presented to them remaining confidential if a majority of them agree it needs to be for national security reasons, but with their individual votes being made public.
There’s no perfect solution, but at least the SC justices aren’t campaigning for office or in position to vote to bestow vast sums of taxpayer money on their cronies and campaign donors. And they are a small group, old enough to have perspective, and few enough to have a sense of collegiality. In a major emergency such as a serious cyberattack, I’d really prefer to have a Commander-in-Chief consulting with the 9 SC justices to get permission to shut down the Internet, than with the unruly mob of Congresspeople and Senators.
How naive!