In invading Iran, Trump asserts the power of a tyrant | Opinion

President Donald Trump’s disdain for the Constitution is evident in his launching a war in Iran without any semblance of congressional approval. Congress must act quickly to protect its role in a Constitution that was meant to prevent such unilateral action by the president.

The framers of the Constitution were deeply distrustful of executive power. The Declaration of Independence, signed 250 years ago, is an enumeration of grievances against the King of England. Those who lived through rule by an autocrat were determined to avoid bestowing such power on anyone. After the Revolutionary War, the United States was governed by the Articles of Confederation, which had a president who served a one-year term and had little authority.

The Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation, gives more power to the president, but it does so in the context of ensuring checks and balances. The Constitution is structured so that it should take two branches of government for any major action.

No action of government has more profound consequences than whether to go to war. The Constitution, in Article I, gives Congress the power to declare war, while Article II makes the president the commander-in-chief. In other words, it is for Congress, the elected branch of government, to decide whether the United States will go to war. Then, it is for the president to choose how to use the military to wage the war.

Trump’s military action in Iran is inconsistent with any notion of separation of powers. He did not consult Congress — let alone get advance approval. It did not need to be this way. After 9/11 and before the war in Iraq, President George W. Bush asked Congress to approve the Authorization for the Use of Military Force.

Trump could have — and should have — sought congressional approval for the war in Iran. It was not an emergency. Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons and its egregious human rights abuses are not new. Congress should have played a role in deciding whether war is justified.

Congress should have scrutinized whether Trump, who repeatedly lies, was telling the truth in justifying the military action. Trump claimed that the military action was needed because Iran had enough available nuclear material to build a bomb within days and was developing long-range missiles that will soon be capable of hitting the United States. There are serious doubts that Iran has sufficient nuclear material to construct an atomic bomb. In fact, Trump declared not long ago — after the first military action against Iran — that we had successfully destroyed Iran’s nuclear capacity. Experts also disagree that Iran has long-range missiles.

The Constitution’s commitment to separation of powers and congressional involvement in war-making decisions is reinforced by a federal statute, the War Powers Resolution. It was enacted in 1973, in response to the tragic and pointless Vietnam War. This law was meant to fulfill the Constitution’s commitment to checks and balances in the exercise of military force in foreign countries.

The War Powers Resolution requires that the president consult with Congress “in every possible instance” before introducing armed forces into hostilities. This was obviously violated by the invasion of Iran, given that there is no indication of any prior consultation with Congress.

To be sure, Trump is not the first president to wage war without congressional authority: In 1958, for example, President Dwight Eisenhower sent troops to Lebanon to protect American economic interests; in 1983, President Ronald Reagan used the military in Grenada to protect American students there and establish a new government; in 1989, President George H.W. Bush invaded Panama to depose its de facto ruler, General Manuel Noriega, who was wanted by U.S. authorities for racketeering and drug trafficking; and in 2011, President Barack Obama authorized the bombing of Libya.

But that does not make the war in Iran constitutional. To the contrary, it shows how far the United States has departed from the wisdom of the framers of the Constitution and the requirements of the War Powers Resolution.

Now, it is imperative that Congress reasserts its constitutional powers. The consequences of Trump’s war in Iran are potentially enormous. Trump has said that it could last weeks and could cost many their lives.

Congress should condemn the military action, which occurred without congressional approval. It must immediately hold oversight hearings to learn why we attacked Iran and what the plans are for the country now. Congress controls the purse and must decide how federal money can be spent, and it must reassert its constitutional authority to be involved in war-making decisions.

James Madison famously wrote in the Federalist Papers, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” Trump is asserting exactly the unchecked authority that James Madison said is the very definition of tyranny.

Erwin Chemerinsky is dean and professor of law at the UC Berkeley School of Law.

This story was originally published March 2, 2026 at 11:32 AM with the headline "In invading Iran, Trump asserts the power of a tyrant | Opinion."