Declaration of War…Declared by Congress Executed by the President

Reason # 1 Not to Have a Constitutional Convention

Great Britain demonstrated how a nation should declare war…have representatives debate, vote. After British Parliament debated, and then they voted not to intervene in Syria’s Civil War. But Wait! That’s how our founders established our country within the Constitution, for Congress to declare war and the Commander-in-Chief to execute it.

The Constitution is vague, but not in declaring war. Our founders gave Congress the power to declare war, to raise and support the armed forces while the President is Commander-in-chief…a separation of powers. Apparently, the War Powers Act has muddled the waters of declaring war. The Act provides means by which the President can act without Congress declaration or authorization. If a national emergency is created, the President needs to notify Congress within 48 hours and execute whatever actions within 60 days.

Former Congressmen such as John Kerry and Leon Panetta believe that the President has the authority to declare war, claiming a declaration is not needed. In addition, former Representative and Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta testified that an international coalition must be built and he’d advise Congress on what was decided. Former Senator and Secretary of State, John Kerry believes the President’s has an obligation to act.

Congress has declared war five times. The last being 1942 for World War II and has never declared war after the inception of the United Nations. Over the past two years, the United Nations has passed two resolutions involving conflicts with Mali and Libya while Russia continues to veto Syria…

Americans should understand why we’re going to war, so debates on the floor should be conducted between Representatives. There should be no secret in justifying war, once Congress has declared war than allow the Executive Branch to conduct it. If chemical weapons were used, then let the debate begin. 79 percent of Americans believe that the President should seek Congressional approval and it appears he is. It is clear that we should return to a Constitutional Republic rather than pursue this haphazard constant intervention seeking to be the World’s police. According to Article I, Section 8, Congress has the power to declare war and Article 2 assigns the President as Commander-in-Chief.

If our Representatives debate and vote to go to war, then Americans have an understanding of the reasons these Representatives supported. If they do not reflect the decisions of their constituents then their vote should be noted… If they have good reasons for war, then we’ll understand those reasons. We may not like them but our founders placed our military under the umbrella of a federal government…and for good reason. A country could not provide national defense with 50 different militaries. If Congress declares war, the Constitutional process is not broken.

Let the debates begin!