Presidential Power and the Libyan Intervention

Yesterday, a debate emerged over whether the President has the authority to order U.S. armed forces into action over Libya without Congressional ascent. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle attacked the President for exceeding his Constitutional authority in launching attacks against Libya without prior Congressional authorization. While it is nice to see members of Congress cross party lines to defend Congress’s institutional prerogatives—something woefully absent when Republicans dominated Congress during the Bush Administration—the criticism here leveled is nonsense. Jack Goldsmith explains why here.