Wayne L. Morse Quotes
The power to make war is vested in Congress and not in the President. Congress has no constitutional authority to grant such authority to the president.
When the Senate was debating the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which would empower the President to take "all necessary measures" to repel any armed attack on U. S. forces, Senator Morse was one of only two Senators opposing the resolution:
Wayne L. Morse, 1900-1974, U. S. Senator (Republican & Independent), Senate Debate, 1964
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In 1949 the NATO treaty was signed. There was concern that a phrase in the treaty authorizing signatories to take "such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force" would undermine Congress's powers:
Vidal, a staunch liberal held this view along with many ultra conservatives end extreme liberals. The constitution requires the Congress to declare war, but they have not done so for any of the wars since WWII. The President assumed the war power. And the only coherent budgets began.
The president did not act purely on his own. The operation in Libya was a NATO operation, not a U. S. operation. All NATO countries unanimously approved the enforcement of the No Fly zone and it was approved by the Security Council of the United Nations, Technically the operation was not war. NATO and the United States was asked to support the no fly zone by the Government of Libya which we and the other countries all recognized at the time. However, since the later part of the 19th century, America has debated exactly who and under what conditions can commit U. S. Troops to hostilities. The prerogatives of Congress in the war powers debate have eroded to the Presidency in the last 2 centuries and some, like Paul feel that the older balance should be restored.
Bybee, then and Assistant Attorney General, took the legal position that the President could order the torture of enemy combatants regardless of Congressional laws prohibiting torture. Two years later the memo’s recipient, Alberto Gonzalez, in his confirmation hearings as Attorney General, repudiated the memo, then stating that the President was not above the law and had to obey the laws of Congress that apply to the military.
This quotation was the beginning of a struggle between Congress and the Presidency over war powers. In this case, President Jefferson had sent a squadron of American ships to protect American Shipping from Arab Corsairs who preyed on shipping and captured crews and passengers of all nations to hold for ransom or put into slavery. The American ships, instead of only providing defense, attacked some of the ships of the Bey and freed a captured American frigate and crew. Jefferson acknowledged that the act was a grey area and asked for authority more authority for the Executive Branch to initiate action. The balance of authority for war and/or defense has been struggled over ever since.
President George W. Bush had ordered NSA agents to bug the phones and email of American citizens who might have been talking with an overseas party or e-mailing them out of the country. The administration thought that American citizens might be part of terrorist sleeper cells or unwittingly were aiding terrorists. The law prohibited such activity—where American citizens were involved—without getting a court order. However, the President claimed that he had the inherent power as commander in chief of exempting the court requirement. Others maintained that even the President is not above the law. What was the big puzzle was that there was a secret court Congress had established just for such cases, but the administration instead decided to bypass the court.
Wayne Lyman Morse was an American attorney and United States Senator from Oregon. Morse is well known for opposing his party's leadership and for his opposition to the Vietnam War on constitutional grounds.
