A couple of coincidental articles appeared today that form an interesting observation about presidents.
Until he was elected, Obama voted against Bush's wars and complained they were not authorized. Now he has done the usual 180 that presidents do and decided he likes the Constitution in this case. I think most Constitutional lawyers agree that presidents have the power. Congress gets to override by stopping the funding.
The New York Times - Friday, June 17, 2011
Obama Overruled 2 Top Lawyers on War Power in Libya
President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.
Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na
And in today's Wall Street Journal, John Woo, who was Bush's adviser on Guantanamo that the Democrats have tried to persecute for giving legal advice, expanded on the theme. The interesting part is where he seems to say that the War Powers Resolution of 1974 is essentially null and void as it cannot override the Constitutional powers of the President.
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