Boston Globe questionnaire on Executive Power: on War & Peace

Barack Obama: Congress decides deployment level & duration, not president

A: No, the President does not have that power. To date, several Congresses have imposed limitations on the number of US troops deployed in a given situation. As President, I will not assert a constitutional authority to deploy troops in a manner contrary to an express limit imposed by Congress and adopted into law.

Barack Obama: No action against Iran without Congressional authorization

A: The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent. History has shown us time and again, however, that military action is most successful when it is authorized and supported by the Legislative branch. It is always preferable to have the informed consent of Congress prior to any military action. As for the specific question about bombing suspected nuclear sites, I recently introduced S.J.Res.23, which states in part that “any offensive military action taken by the United States against Iran must be explicitly authorized by Congress.”

Bill Richardson: Only Congress has authority to declare war on Iran

A: The Constitution assigns to Congress, not to the President, the power to declare war. However, in the case of an imminent threat, when there is no time to go to Congress, the Commander in Chief may, and indeed must, act to protect the United States. Given that the Iranian nuclear program does not pose such an imminent threat, if the President believed it was in the US national interest to attack Iranian nuclear sites, he should seek prior authorization from Congress.

John McCain: Strategic bombing of Iran OK only if imminent threat

A: Well he doesn’t. But if there is an imminent threat, the president has to act in America’s security interest.

Q: But in terms of a strategic bombing, then he’s got to go to Congress?

A: He should, absent an imminent threat. But in the event of an imminent threat, the President has a constitutional obligation to protect the American people.

John McCain: Congress can only declare war; not micromanage wars

A: It’s beyond Congress’s authority to micromanage wars. Congress has the power of the purse and the power to declare wars; the President is responsible for leading the armed forces as Commander in Chief

Ron Paul: No presidential authority to bomb Iran without Congress

A: None.

Ron Paul: Congress can defund war, but not micromanage it

A: I have not voted to [restrict] the president on troop movements. So my thinking is if the president has some type of authority or he assumes it, I don’t want the solution to be by capping the number of troops or setting any type of troop movement. The solution there for me would be to remove the authority and defund it, not to micromanage troop movement. At least the thing that I follow on some of these votes in the Congress, when the Democrats come up with restricting troop movements or saying you have to move so many out by so many months, unless the bill is complex that is a basic premise I try to follow. I do not like to vote for, and have voted against, micromanaging troop movements.