Would somebody please explain something to me?
The Constitution of the United States of America explicitly reserves the power to declare war to Congress. The Founding Fathers specifically made it clear that we did NOT have a King, but rather a President, and that one of the explicit differences was that the President was absolutely not permitted to declare and make war on his own initiative. I don't remember hearing about any amendments to any of those provisions.
What happened? When did all this change?
Originally Posted by Sidewinder
Here is an explanation. The War Powers Act of 1973 that Nixon vetoed but Congress overrode the veto.
The War Powers Resolution requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60
days, with a further 30 day withdrawal period, without an authorization of the use of military force or a
declaration of war. The resolution was passed by two-thirds of Congress, overriding a
presidential veto. The War Powers Resolution has been violated in the past by President Reagan
in regards to the aid to the Contras in Nicaragua and by President Clinton in 1999, during
the bombing campaign in Kosovo. All incidents have had congressional disapproval, but none have had any successful legal actions taken against the president for violations.
[2][3] All presidents since 1973 have declared their belief that the act is unconstitutional.............. ......THERE has not been a DECLARATION of WAR since WWII.