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There you have it, straight from the horse's mouth, neither Congress nor the President cannot declare war against a state.

Ho hum.

According to the Militia Act of May 2, 1792, as amended Feb 28, 1795, Sec. 2:

"And it be further enacted, That whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed or the execution thereof obstructed, in any state, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by this act, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia of such state to suppress such combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. And if the militia of a state, where such combinations may happen, shall refuse, or be insufficient to suppress the same, it shall be lawful for the President, if the legislatures of the United States be not in session, to call forth and employ such numbers of the militia of any other state or states most convenient thereto, as may be necessary, and the use of militia, so to be called forth, may be continued, if necessary, until the expiration of thirty days after the commencement of the ensuing session."

You'll note it says nothing about a state having passed an ordnance of secession to be a bar to federal action.

So Lincoln had the law plainly on his side when the war began.

It should also be noted that this legislation was passed at the request of George Washington.

Walt

Lincoln might have had the law on his side. But the laws must be written in accordance with the Constitution. So now we have the Supreme Court ruling on that Militia Act of 1792 some 70 years later. And Justice Grier makes it perfectly clear that neither the Congress nor President had any authority to wage war against a state (remember that the laws of this nation are subservient to the Constitution). Justice Grier did write the majority decision.

So Lincoln had the law plainly on his side when the war began.

Actually, Mr. Lincoln's legal arguments were "as dead as Kelsey's nuts." Perhaps you should review James Ostrowski's "AN ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S LEGAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST SECESSION," located here:

http://apollo3.com/~jameso/secession.html

Enjoy!

;>)