The War Powers Act of 1973 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The War Powers Act of 1973 - Essay Example President Harry Truman set the precedent of circumventing Congress, and the Constitution, when he deployed troops to Korea in 1950. Congress attempted to regain its sole authority to declare war when it passed the War Powers Act in 1973 as a response to the undeclared Vietnam War. The Act allows the Commander-in-Chief to respond to emergency situations and deploy troops for a limited amount of time without a formal declaration of war. However, presidents from Truman to George W. Bush have summarily ignored this Act as well as their constitutionally limited authority by waging protracted wars all over the world. All have selectively cited the part of the Constitution that gives them authority over the military while ignoring the part that stipulates they do not have the authority to wage war on their own. According to the United States Constitution Article One, Section Eight, only Congress has the exclusive authority to â€Å"to declare war [and] grant letters of marque and reprisal† (United States Constitution). Presidents do not have this authority. However, the War Powers Act of 1973 circumvented the Constitution. The Act allows for the President to deploy troops to a country for 60-90 days without the consent of Congress (War Powers Resolution, 1973). It is intended to first allow the president to deploy troops in an emergency situation but secondly to strictly enforce Congressional authority to declare war, to adhere to the framers of the Constitution’s intention for the people’s representatives in Congress to decide if military action was in the nation’s best interest. Given the ambiguity of this license the office of President now has to initiate war, but the President could, hypothetically of course, act without specific congressional approval to w age war against a sovereign nation that did not pose a military threat. This could theoretically lead to a seemingly