Quote Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh
1. Congress had no right under the Constitution to grant the Executive the power to begin hostilities without a formal declaration of war. While I think Congress was a collective bunch of schmoes trying to side-step responsibility when they issued Bush his terrorsit hunting license in the fashion they did, they did do so. Moreover, based on the information then available, they voted again to authorize action in Iraq. I don't think this will fly as "unlawful" from a Constitutional angle.
There is no requirement for a "formal" declaration of war that I see in the constitution. It says nothing of "formal" declarations or of how they should be written. The AUMF is a declaration of war in every sense but the "formal" one. Congress authorized the president to use the military to invade Iraq- sounds a lot like declaring war to me.