Will Congress Assert Its Authority?

Here's an interesting article from a couple of Yale School of Law professors: The Iraq war will become illegal on January 1, 2009.

Their argument is that the United Nations resolution that authorized the invasion of Iraq is scheduled to expire on December 31, and the Bush administration has already said it will not seek an extension from the UN.

The administration is currently seeking a separate agreement with the so-called Iraqi "government" led by Nouri al-Maliki. The potential legal problem arises because any such agreement should be submitted to Congress for approval. The reason is because under the Constitution, the power to wage war is reserved for Congress.

The current authorization from Congress, while not a formal Declaration of War, is based on the existing UN resolution. The professors' argue that once that UN resolution expires, so does Congress' current authorization.

While the pair raises some interesting legal points, don't expect Bush to yield on this. He hasn't given a crap about the Constitution for the last seven years, and there's no reason to think he'll start now.