SYMPOSIUM COMMENT AND NOTE: EXECUTIVE WAR POWERS, SYRIA, AND PRESIDENT OBAMA'S 'RED LINE': Note: Congress, the President, and the Power to Initiate War: Is a Culture Change on the Horizon?
In: The Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, Jg. 12 (2014-07-01), S. 855
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INTRODUCTION "There is nothing in the text, subtext, context or judicial interpretation of the Constitution that empowers the president to initiate war without prior congressional authorization. Yet presidential lawlessness persists and metastasizes like a cancer." 1 This is the argument of Bruce Fein, Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan, Senior Policy Advisor to Ron Paul's 2012 Presidential Campaign, and lawyer to Ed Snowden's father. A culture change is needed, he claims--namely, Congress should impeach presidents for "unconstitutional" use of the war powers. 2 Mr. Fein's vision for regulating presidents seems extreme, and it is unlikely to materialize absent egregious presidential action. But if Congress were to update the War Powers Resolution, a culture change to Mr. Fein's liking may be on the horizon. I. WHEN SOCIETY GENERALLY DOES NOT BEAR THE EFFECTS OFWAR, STRONG PUBLIC REBUKE IS UNLIKELY Mr. Fein quotes Abraham Lincoln in support of his argument. But President Lincoln's words not only help explain why a culture change has not occurred but also make room for the argument that presidential initiation of minor military engagements is constitutional because such engagements are not "war-making" and do not "oppress" or "impoverish" the American people. President Lincoln stated: The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated [for] the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be ...
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SYMPOSIUM COMMENT AND NOTE: EXECUTIVE WAR POWERS, SYRIA, AND PRESIDENT OBAMA'S 'RED LINE': Note: Congress, the President, and the Power to Initiate War: Is a Culture Change on the Horizon?
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | KOULOS, HARRY P. |
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Zeitschrift: | The Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, Jg. 12 (2014-07-01), S. 855 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2014 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
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