ALAN WILSON: President Trump Chose Strength, And The Constitution Supports Him

I have served nearly 30 years in the Army National Guard, including a combat tour during Operation Iraqi Freedom. If there is something that every service member who has ever served in a theater of combat knows, it is that hesitation costs lives. Delay can embolden the enemy. Decisive action saves lives. That premise holds true for the President of the United States.

President Donald Trump acted within his constitutional authority when he ordered strikes on Iranian military targets to eliminate Iran’s capacity to threaten American interests worldwide. This was not a reckless move. It was the type of action a Commander-in-Chief is expected to take in the face of imminent danger.

When a genuine threat to the United States exists, the Commander in Chief must be able to act. Article II of the Constitution vests the President with the responsibility to respond to threats that do not follow a legislative calendar. In crises like these, the President must be free to act swiftly, unencumbered by procedural delay, to protect American forces and interests.

The Framers deliberately split war powers between branches: Article I gives Congress the authority to declare war, but the founders also recognized the need for a decisive executive able to respond to sudden attacks or threats. Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist No. 70, stressed the value of a strong, energetic executive — not for aggression, but for the capacity to make hard decisions when American lives are at risk. That balance between congressional authority and executive responsibility is central to effective national defense.

The War Powers Act of 1973 sought to constrain the president’s authority for a limited period. It limited the President’s engagement in military actions to instances where the Armed Forces are “introduced into hostilities, or in situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” The problem is that we live in an era where non-conventional warfare is the norm. Our enemy no longer wears a uniform. They operate through shadow proxy groups that attack us and our allies relentlessly. They engage in drone and cyber-attacks. They now seek the same objectives but do so under the zone of conventional military engagement. We live in a time where “imminent hostilities” confront us every day, yet we are never at “war.”