<P> Presidents have submitted 130 reports to Congress as a result of the War Powers Resolution, although only one (the Mayagüez incident) cited Section 4 (a) (1) and specifically stated that forces had been introduced into hostilities or imminent danger . </P> <P> Congress invoked the War Powers Resolution in the Multinational Force in Lebanon Act (P.L. 98 - 119), which authorized the Marines to remain in Lebanon for 18 months during 1982 and 1983 . In addition, the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 1991 (Pub. L. 102--1) which authorized United States combat operations against Iraqi forces during the 1991 Gulf War, stated that it constituted specific statutory authorization within the meaning of the War Powers Resolution . </P> <P> On November 9, 1994, the House used a section of the War Powers Resolution to state that U.S. forces should be withdrawn from Somalia by March 31, 1994; Congress had already taken this action in appropriations legislation . More recently under President Clinton, war powers were at issue in former Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Haiti, and under President George W. Bush in responding to terrorist attacks against the U.S. after September 11, 2001 . "(I) n 1999, President Clinton kept the bombing campaign in Kosovo going for more than two weeks after the 60 - day deadline had passed . Even then, however, the Clinton legal team opined that its actions were consistent with the War Powers Resolution because Congress had approved a bill funding the operation, which they argued constituted implicit authorization . That theory was controversial because the War Powers Resolution specifically says that such funding does not constitute authorization ." Clinton's actions in Kosovo were challenged by a member of Congress as a violation of the War Powers Resolution in the D.C. Circuit case Campbell v. Clinton, but the court found the issue was a non-justiciable political question . It was also accepted that because Clinton had withdrawn from the region 12 days prior the 90 - day required deadline, he had managed to comply with the act . </P> <P> After the 1991 Gulf War, the use of force to obtain Iraqi compliance with United Nations resolutions, particularly through enforcement of Iraqi no - fly zones, remained a war powers issue . In October 2002 Congress enacted the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Pub. L. 107--243 which authorized President George W. Bush to use force as necessary to defend the United States against Iraq and enforce relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions . This was in addition to the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists enacted in 2001 . </P>

How can the president go to war without congress