<P> In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance the president's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act . The legislation empowered the president to sign any spending bill into law while simultaneously striking certain spending items within the bill, particularly any new spending, any amount of discretionary spending, or any new limited tax benefit . Congress could then repass that particular item . If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override the veto by its ordinary means, a two - thirds vote in both houses . In Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional . </P> <P> One of the most important of all executive powers is the president's role as Commander - in - Chief of the United States Armed Forces . The power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, but the president has ultimate responsibility for the direction and disposition of the military . The present - day operational command of the Armed Forces is delegated to the Department of Defense and is normally exercised through the Secretary of Defense . The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commands assist with the operation as outlined in the presidentially approved Unified Command Plan (UCP). The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president's powers regarding the military; Alexander Hamilton explained this in Federalist No. 69: </P> <P> The President is to be commander - in - chief of the army and navy of the United States...It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces...while that (the power) of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all (of) which...would appertain to the legislature . (Emphasis in the original .) </P> <P> Pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, Congress must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual . Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation . Presidents have historically initiated the process for going to war, but critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations, including Theodore Roosevelt's military move into Panama in 1903, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989 . </P>

What are the responsibilities of the president of the united states