Pre-Emptive War Does Not Mean What You Think it Means

Sam Stein for HuffPo:

The legislative branch adjourned its business at the end of last week to tend to elections. In doing so, it left unresolved the issue of authorizing the war that President Barack Obama would start days later. Congressional inaction didn’t upend the White House’s plans; the administration had already claimed it had legal authority to launch such strikes in Syria.

But by leaving town before the president started operations, lawmakers may have done serious harm to their own institution, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) argued in an interview with The Huffington Post. Not only had they diminished the standing of Congress with respect to the executive branch, they also may have given unintended consent to a Dick Cheney-like vision of presidential war powers.

Dick Cheney’s boss never launched a war without first rallying the American people, then rallying support from Congress.

Can Joe Biden’s boss say the same thing?