U.S. National Security Processes: Executive v. Legislature
This paper will examine the decision-making processes of the U.S. government. The discussion will specifically focus on the powers and processes involved in national security decisions of the executive and legislative branches of the government. The first part of the paper will present an overview of the constitutional framework of national security and the legal powers granted to both branches of the government. The second part of the paper will examine in closer detail the interrelationship between the executive and legislature in making national security decisions and will look at some examples of national security decisions made since the Second World War.
Although the President has been granted most of the authority over foreign relations and defense issues, the Constitution grants Congress several related powers which affect the President's authority. Thus, the President rarely has the only voice with regards to national security issues. As one authority has said, the framework established by the Constitution is an invitation to struggle for the privilege of directing U.S. foreign policy (Corwin, 1957, p. 171). The Constitution grants certain powers to the President in one article and then restricts those powers with grants of power to the Congress in another article. This means that the words and phrases of the Constitution cannot be looked to as definite and final authority for the powers to make national security decisions; rather, authority for these powers has developed through custom and practice over two centuries. This authority includes the customs and practices of governmental decision-making as they have evolved since the late 18th Century and Supreme Court decisions in cases where executive and legislative authority collided (Corwin 1957, pp. 172-73).
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution grants the President the powers of Commander in Chief of th...