> No, congress would have to declare war first. Article I, Section 8. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the sole power to declare war, it does not, on its ow

> No, congress would have to declare war first. Article I, Section 8. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the sole power to declare war, it does not, on its own, prohibit any other action than "declaring war" to any other actor. The War Powers Act (or Resolution) attempts to put some additional rules around this (note that it is widely seen as being either an unconstitutional intrusion on Presidential authority or an unconstitutional delegation of Congressional authority, and courts have so far failed to resolve it, having found lack of standing in the few cases that have been brought under it.) But even the War Powers Act doesn't purport to prohibit the President from using force in advance of Congressional authorization.