Who has the power to declare war?
The power to declare war is set forth by the Constitution in Article I Section 8. This power, along with the power to raise and support an army, is given only to Congress. This is known as the War Powers Clause. However, Congress does not need to formally declare war for the military to be sent to foreign countries, such was the case in Vietnam and Iraq. In fact, Congress has only declared war five times, the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican-American War, and World War I and II. Article II Section 2 of the Constitution also plays an important role for the use of the nation’s military as it states that the President is the Commander in Chief. This power allows the President to use the military without the formal declaration of war from Congress since he is the head of the nation’s military and has the duty to protect the country. This power is controversial to many since the Constitution vaguely gave these powers to both the legislative and executive branches. In 1973,
A. There is a short answer and a much longer answer. The short answer is that the Constitution clearly grants the Congress the power to declare war, in Article 1, Section 8. This power is not shared with anyone, including the President. The President, however, is just as clearly made the Commander in Chief of all of the armed forces, in Article 2, Section 2. In this role, the President has the ability to defend the nation or to take military action without involving the Congress directly, and the President’s role as “C-in-C” is often part of the reason for that. What this has resulted in is the essential ability of the President to order forces into hostilities to repel invasion or counter an attack, without a formal declaration of war. The conduct of war is the domain of the President. These two distinct roles, that of the Congress and that of the President, bring up the interesting and important questions: can the United States be “at war” without a declaration of war? If we can, the
Senator Jim Webb, a Democrat from Virginia, has been persistent. He keeps asking the Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice if the administration thought that Bush had the power to take military action against Iran without permission from Congress. “Is it the position of this administration that it possesses the authority to take unilateral action against Iran, in the absence of a direct threat, without congressional approval?” he asked Rice during a Senate hearing January 11th. She seems to be avoiding his question. First she said, “I’m really loathe to get into questions of the president’s authorities without a rather more clear understanding of what we are actually talking about. So let me answer you, in fact, in writing. I think that would be the best thing to do.” The letter did not arrive immediately, so Webb wrote to her and even suggested some responses. Webb considered that this question basically could be answered with a “yes” or “no” response. Well, the letter finally arrived th
” A. There is a short answer and a much longer answer. The short answer is that the Constitution clearly grants the Congress the power to declare war, in Article 1, Section 8. This power is not shared with anyone, including the President. The President, however, is just as clearly made the Commander in Chief of all of the armed forces, in Article 2, Section 2. In this role, the President has the ability to defend the nation or to take military action without involving the Congress directly, and the President’s role as “C-in-C” is often part of the reason for that. What this has resulted in is the essential ability of the President to order forces into hostilities to repel invasion or counter an attack, without a formal declaration of war. The conduct of war is the domain of the President. These two distinct roles, that of the Congress and that of the President, bring up the interesting and important questions: can the United States be “at war” without a declaration of war? If we can, t
” A. The Constitution clearly grants the Congress the power to declare war, in Article 1, Section 8. The President, however, is just as clearly made the Commander in Chief of all of the armed forces, in Article 2, Section 2. That having been said, the ability to defend the nation or to take military action has often not involved the Congress directly, and the President’s role as “C-in-C” is often part of the reason for that. What this has resulted in is the essential ability of the President to order forces into hostilities to repel invasion or counter an attack, without a formal declaration of war. The conduct of war is the domain of the President. The question of the need for a declaration of war dates all the way back to the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson sent a squadron of warships to the Mediterranean to protect U.S. shipping against the forces of the Bey of Tripoli. Jefferson’s instructions to the squadron were that they act in a defensive manner only, with a strictly
