ORL Affirms Only Congress Has the Authority to Declare War or Authorize the Use of Force

The Issue. Article I of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to provide for “the common defense” of the United States and to “raise armed forces.” It further states in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11, that only Congress has the power “to declare war.” Since World War II, Congress has exercised this power by passing resolutions authorizing the President to use military force in specific circumstances.

In Article II, Section 2, the President is designated as the Commander in Chief. Article II, Section 3, states that the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” once Congress passes legislation, in this case, related to our national security or foreign policy interests. It says nothing about the power of the President to authorize or unilaterally engage in war against another country, especially when there is no imminent threat to our country.

The word “war” is not mentioned in Article II. The President has no power to declare war under our Constitution. Under the law, absent a national emergency created by attack or the imminent threat of attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces, the President is required to get congressional authorization before using military force. 

The framers of the Constitution specifically divided the nation’s war powers between the Congress and the President. The reasons that explain the intentions of the Founders were articulated clearly and unconditionally by one of those founders, James Madison: “The constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war in the Legislature.”

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the President does have a limited power to use military force without Congressional approval when the nation is attacked,  but only in self-defense where “the President is not only authorized but bound to resist force by force.”

Since taking office a second time, President Trump has initiated attacks of one kind or another against seven nations:  Iran; Iraq; Venezuela; Nigeria; Somalia; Yemen; and Syria. In the two most recent and major cases – Venezuela and Iran – the President ignored the Constitution and ordered U.S. Armed Forces into action without authorization from Congress to engage in military actions. Congress has not declared war on either Venezuela or Iran or authorized any specific military actions or funding for actions against those nations.

In the case of Venezuela, the President positioned his actions initially as law enforcement operations against alleged “narco-terrorists,” killing civilians on the high seas of the Caribbean region and Pacific Ocean. But on January 3, 2026, he launched a military attack on the country to apprehend the President and his wife to enforce a New York arrest warrant.

In the case of Iran, last June the President launched a unilateral military strike, without Constitutional authorization, to“obliterate” Iran’s potential nuclear capabilities before the radical Islamic regime could potentially attack the United States, its neighbors in the Persian Gulf, or other countries such as Israel. The President declared victory then, claiming that Iran’s nuclear capability has been obliterated.

Iran’s ruling regime is evil, barbarically kills its own citizens when they protest, and supports reprehensible groups that cause death and destruction in the Middle East and throughout the world. But, absent imminent threat of attack, regime change, however welcome that result might be, cannot justify the use of military force without express authorization by Congress. There is a reason that the Constitution provides Congress with the sole power to declare war. Our elected representatives, all 535 of them, need to consider the Commander in Chief’s plan to accomplish military goals and weigh the costs and benefits to the country before declaring war or authorizing military action against a foreign adversary.

ORL policy position. ORL supports the Constitution and the Rule of Law as one of our founding principles. Absent military attack or the imminent threat of attack, only Congress can declare war or authorize the use of military force, not the President. While Congress failed to act in the case of Venezuela in advance of the President’s unilateral military actions, Congress must act now to uphold the Constitution and reaffirm that the President cannot use unilateral force on his own authority in the absence of a clear case of self-defense of the nation.  Following the Constitution is not optional – it is the law. 

ORL recommended action. Based on our principle of support for the Constitution and the Rule of Law, Our Republican Legacy urges the U.S. Congress to immediately reassert its authority under Article I of the Constitution and the War Powers Act before the United States gets entangled in a protracted war in the Middle East with the senseless loss of life that would entail.

Specifically, Congress should immediately consider House and Senate resolutions under the War Powers Act regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. If Congress enacts a declaration of war and gives authority to the President to prosecute that war, then he will have the constitutionally mandated, specific authorization for the use of force. If Congress does not authorize such a military action, then under the Constitution he must immediately cease and desist his preemptive, unilateral attack.

Under the Constitution and the War Powers Act, the President has the opportunity to make the case to the American people and the Congress that the regime in Iran presents an imminent threat or danger to our country, which he has not yet done. Congress can then consider his arguments in voting for or against an authorization to go to war.