[PeaRidge]

Still no vote by the Confederate Congress to declare war.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Sorry, but there's no difference between a bill declaring that a state of war exists and authorizing the president to use the armed forced to fight it and a bill recognizing that a state of war exists and authorizing the president to use the armed forces to fight it.

The phrasing of the confederate declaration of war is entirely consistent with other US declarations of war, particularly of the 19th Century, documents that no rational person disputes are, indeed, declarations of war. And it was recognized as such by the confederates.