Can the US president attack another country without Congress?

[TomSea]

Excerpt:

Can the US president attack another country without Congress?

...

Did Congress know?

Trump did let Congress know of his plans to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles Thursday evening, targeting the air base from which Syrian President Bashar Assad launched a chemical weapons attack earlier this week against his own people, killing more than 80 men, women and children.

A White House official said more than two dozen members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, were briefed Thursday by White House and Cabinet officials. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the No. 3 US official, said he was among those informed.

Is informing them enough?

The War Powers Resolution, enacted in 1973, long after American troops began fighting in Vietnam, required the president to consult with Congress before sending US armed forces into combat unless there already had been a declaration of war. The troops could not stay more than 90 days unless lawmakers backed the decision. The law also sought to give the president “leeway to respond to attacks or other emergencies,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

And it is that leeway that presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and now Trump have used to their advantage. Following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Congress gave Bush authority to attack any countries or groups involved in the attacks, which was generally accepted to mean al-Qaida. Obama used that same authority to fight the ISIS militant group, which emerged in 2014 as an outgrowth of al-Qaida. Trump has used that same authority to continue military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

The Obama administration maintained in 2011 that US involvement in the months-long air campaign against Libya didn’t require congressional permission because American forces were largely playing a supporting role as part of an international coalition.

Continued: https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2017/04/07/Can-the-president-attack-another-country-without-Congress-.html

[Suppressed]

LOL...as if the Constitution means anything these days!

[dfwgator]

Congress?  We don't need no stinkin' Congress.

[Cripplecreek]

Well since nobody gives a damn about the constitution or any of the other normal laws and rules of the USA I'd say a "president" can do whatever the hell he wants.

[kidd]

Trump's attack on Syria is no better than Obama's attack on Libya:

- Neither one was legal.
- We have no interests of significance in either country.
- This is going to bite us in the ass at a later time.

[ABX]

Just so I don't have to type all this again, posted on the other thread:

The Constitution allows for three ways military force can be used.
1. A declaration of war.
2. Punishing offenses against the laws of nations. (it specifically called out piracy as an example).
3. Stopping rebellions.

In the case of Constitutional use, all three of those items are found in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution- which is Congress' role.

The President does have the War Powers Act to go on which allows him to take emergency action. He has 48 days to go to Congress for approval. It is concerning when a President can use military force outside those Constitutionality required areas that do require Congressional input and authorization.


....and, before you say that this is just about Trump, no. I am basically copying and pasting the concerns we levied when Obama started using military action in Syria, Lybia, and elsewhere, on his own, without Congress's approval and not following the War Powers Act guidelines.  Liberals were saying the same thing as some here: "he doesn't need Congressional approval, this isn't war, just an action, just a bombing, etc"

Example: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/us/politics/16powers.html

Conservatives were demanding he follow the Constitution.

Example: http://www.newsmax.com/GeorgeWill/GeorgeWill-Obama-Libya-WarPowersResolution/2011/05/31/id/398312/

So I hope here that the consistent Conservative approach is that the President does go to Congress by the War Powers Act and Constitutional guideline and we don't start using the same arguments that the left used for Obama.

If he goes to Congress, then he is doing the right thing.

[don-o]

Cancel the Easter recess and force Congress to do their job. I believe the President can do that.

[Right_in_Virginia]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQKmINMsVNI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQKmINMsVNI