War Powers Act

[Zatch]

I keep hearing people on reddit say the War Powers Act is what gives the president the power to intervene in Libya without first getting congressional approval...as long as he notifies congress in 48 hours and gets their approval in 60 days.

But it seems blatantly clear from the law that that those rules apply only when there is an imminent or actual attack against the US:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001541----000-.html

Am I missing something? It seems like the president has violated the war powers act itself.

[ryan14]

i would like to know the answer to this question too.

[aravoth]

I keep hearing people on reddit say the War Powers Act is what gives the president the power to intervene in Libya without first getting congressional approval...as long as he notifies congress in 48 hours and gets their approval in 60 days.

But it seems blatantly clear from the law that that those rules apply only when there is an imminent or actual attack against the US:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001541----000-.html

Am I missing something? It seems like the president has violated the war powers act itself.

yes he violated the war powers act, it only authorizes presidential action when hostilities are imminent. Libya did not attack us, nor did they give any indication of doing so.

[mrsat_98]

Move along , there is nothing going on here. The UN approved the actions. gag, puke, choke !

[Don Lapre]

Am I missing something? It seems like the president has violated the war powers act itself.

He no doubt has.

Those defending his actions will do so in one of two ways.

1) They'll say a precedent for a president to call for military action without congressional authorization has been previously set. Barry is just doing what others before him have done.

2) They'll spew out a lot of vague hand-wavey gibberish - hoping to distract away from what is CLEARLY written in the War Powers Act.