War: Who Decides?

According to the Constitution, the President has the right to declare war. But, the Constitution also says that the Congress also plays a role in the deciding of a war. The Congress controls the federal funding, which means the Congress decides how much will be funded in a war, making the Congress 'the power of the purse'. 

After the Vietnam war, the lawmakers felt that that the president had too much control over war related affairs. The power was getting to the thinking of the presidents. So, the War Powers Act was established, which soon became law. The law says that after 90 days of military action, the president must terminate military force unless the Congress decides to continue on with the attack. 

In the last century, soldiers had to prepare and plan everything several months before the attack actually happened. Nowadays, technology has taken over. Missile and drones can be sent to places where the president thinks that the need of soldiers is unnecessary. The missiles are controlled over computers by people sitting a thousand miles or so away from the attack site. If no American soldiers are in danger of casualties then there is a higher chance that the Congress may not even object with the attack.

I do not think that the President was a coward nor was he indecisive to ask the Congress first before sending troops to Syria. The Congress play a role in the decision making of the war, they should act according to their role and decide with the President. This time, American troops are actually being sent to battle and funds are needed in order to support them. Since the Congress is a part of controlling the funds then they too should decide whether or not the troops should be sent. What the President did was not wrong. Being one person can actually make it difficult to decide such a big decision. 

I think that the Framers of the Constitution split the nations power because of fear that if one branch was given too much then it might overtake and control too much. The Legislative branch makes laws and the Executive branch carries out the laws. This way both branches can first confirm and state their opinions before making a bill or law official. I think that the system is kind of working. There is not one part that has too much power and also the publics opinions are also voiced, which the executive branch is to do.