POTUS To Open Military Front Against ISIS in Libya. What is the congressional authorization?

February 4th, 2016

The New York Times reports that the President is considering opening a new front against ISIS in Libya. The article doesn’t even bother to address what the congressional authorization is for such a move. Is it the 2001 AUMF against Al Qaeda, because after all, Al Qaeda is really ISIS. Or is it the 2002 AUMF against Iraq, because after all, Iraq is really Iraq, Syria, and now Lebanon. To borrow from Justice Scalia’s dissent in King v. Burwell, “words no longer have meaning.”