President Constitutional Authority to Make War. . . and the Checks Against That Power

One of the students in my Temecula Constitution Study sent me an Email asking:

I'm a bit confused on the subject of the President being able to go to war without the blessing of Congress and the part about Congress having to say it is ok. Can you help to unconfused me when it is convenient?

So I responded:


XXXX,

The Commander in Chief is exactly that, the chief commander. A commander on the battlefield decides to send the troops into battle. The Commander in Chief may do the same. We have to remember that the Constitution was written at a time before our technology, so if the nation was attacked and the President needed to take action he didn't have time to wait for the message to go out to the members of Congress, then them make their way back to the Capital - by then, the war would be over. Second, remember that the presidency was created with George Washington in mind. They expected the president to be a man of integrity. However, they also knew that it was possible for the president to be a dirt bag.

Because it was possible that the President could be tyrannical, even though he had the authority to wage war without the consent of Congress, there were a number of checks in place. One, the Congress could defund the operation and the president's war would come to an end simply because there would be no money for it. Second, the Congress has the power to impeach, and if the President was committing war atrocities, they had the power to literally kick him out of office. So, though the President has the authority to wage war, it is not without consequences if he were to abuse that power.

To truly understand the definitions in the Constitution, one must pay attention to the debates during the convention. In the debates they argued over whether or not to give Congress the power to make war, or to only be able to declare war. They chose the latter, and gave the ability to wage war to the President. Reading the debates in Madison's notes on the Constitution makes clear the original intent.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

Blessings,

Douglas V. Gibbs
www.politicalpistachio.com
www.temeculaconstitutionclass.blogspot.com