Several disputes arose between President Abraham Lincoln and Congress regarding who had the responsibility to develop a Reconstruction plan for the South. According to Lincoln, the South had rebelled, not SECEDED. Therefore, he felt that as President of the United States, he alone had the authority to enforce laws and reconstruct the South. Congress viewed the South as a defeated military territory. Congress exercised POLITICAL control over such FOREIGN territories. Therefore, Congress believed that the responsibility for reconstructing the South fell to them.
