Question

What are some of the important national security responsibilities the president shares with Congress? (Select all that apply.) foreign relations power to declare war law enforcement treaty making

Answer 1

The correct answers are A) foreign relations and B) power to declare war.

Some of the important national security responsibilities the president shares with Congress are foreign relations and power to declare war.

The Powers of the President that are shared with Congress are foreign relations, the appointment of Ambassadors, make treaties, and to approve legislation. The President cannot declare war, for that to happen it needs the authorization of Congress, although the President can send troops to any country. Some of the Presidential powers detailed in Article II of the US Constitution are to serve as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Convene Congress in special sessions, to lead the executive branch and the Cabinet, and appoint Supreme Court Justices.

Answer 2

Ever since the Korean War, Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution – which refers to the president as the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States” – has been interpreted this way.

But what the framers actually meant by that clause was that once war has been declared, it was the President’s responsibility as commander-in-chief to direct the war. Alexander Hamilton spoke in such terms when he said that the president, although lacking the power to declare war, would have “the direction of war when authorized or begun.” The president acting alone was authorized only to repel sudden attacks (hence the decision to withhold from him only the power to “declare” war, not to “make” war, which was thought to be a necessary emergency power in case of foreign attack).