Primary Constitutional Conflict

The primary constitutional conflict between the Congress and the President over the decision to go to war can be traced back to the constitution. First, the American constitution divides the control of the military between the executive and the legislative branches. While the Congress has the role of providing common defense and the power to declare war, the President is the commander in chief of armed forces. The conflict exists between the two branches because there is no sole agreement on who is the actual one to declare war. Even though the President may be the commander in chief, he would have to refer to the Congress to officially declare to the world that the United States is at war. Due to such discrepancy, presidents have tested their war power numerous times and Congress also has devised a law to curb such power of the presidents as well.

At the time, president Thomas Jefferson believed he had the authority to act without the approval of Congress and fought a four year undeclared war. Since Jefferson, many presidents have sent troops into war without a formal congressional approval. As an illustration, President Harry S. Truman fought the Korean war without Congress’ direct approval. However, in order to limit such president’s power to go to war, Congress has looked to limit the president’s power to go to war through the War Powers Resolution.

There are two provisions of the War Powers Resolution that were designed to limit the President’s war making power. The first provision is if the President sent troops into combat, he or she must notify the Congress within 48 hours. This limits the President’s powers over war making because the President must receive Congress’s approval to continue to have troops in.