Congress authorized the use of force, not the President. President Bush committed a certain number of forces to combat operations in Afghanistan. No further Presidential committment is required by law to continue the existing combat operations in Afghanistan. The Secretary of Defense and the Combatant Commander in Afghanistan have all the statutory authority they need to carry out the existing mission. (Unless the President orders them to withdraw from combat.)
The Combatant Commander in Afghanistan felt that additional forces were necessary to successfully complete the mission. He requested additional forces from the Secretary of Defense. The SECDEF asked the President if he would agree to commit additional forces. The President agreed to commit an additional 30,000. Once the President made that committment, the SECDEF had the statutory authority to deploy additional forces. No authorization to use force was necessary from the President. No order of deployment was necessary from the President.
Why did the SecDef ask the POTUS to commit additional troops? Wasn’t the SecDef authorized to make decisions on how much force to use where? Did the SecDef have the statutory authority to deploy those additional 30,000 troops BEFORE the POTUS agreed to commit additional troops? What statute would give the SecDef authority to deploy the troops after Presidential approval, and what statute requires the President’s approval first?