Editorial Board
Follow the Constitution on Waging War
A new attempt in Congress to straighten out the rules is ill-conceived.
Who’s next?
Photographer: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images
Americans might differ over the finer points of the Founding Fathers’ plan to share war-making authority between the executive and legislative branches, but the basic principle has always been clear. Congress, and only Congress, has the power to declare war; the president and his military advisers are responsible for waging it.
Lawmakers’ latest attempt to restate their constitutional prerogative has those aims backward.