WAR POWERS: DECIDING TO USE FORCE ABROAD

The process of authorizing the decision to go to war is
reexamined in a new report by a bipartisan commission which
generally concludes that Congress must be more assertive in
exercising its constitutionally mandated role.

"Congress must perform its constitutional duty to reach a
deliberate and transparent collective judgment about initiating
the use of force abroad except when force is used for a limited
range of defensive purposes."

See "Deciding to Use Force Abroad: War Powers in a System of
Checks and Balances," The Constitution Project, June 29, 2005:

http://www.constitutionproject.org/wp/WarPowers_final.pdf

Relatedly, see "War Powers Resolution: Presidential Compliance"
from the Congressional Research Service, updated May 24, 2005:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IB81050.pdf