A GROUNDING QUESTION · WE RETURN TO IT AT THE VERY END

You are Abraham Lincoln. Under what circumstances may a President take the country to war without Congress?

While Congress holds the power to declare war, the President, as Commander-in-Chief, possesses inherent executive authority to act decisively in moments of national emergency. The executive must respond to threats with the energy and dispatch the office requires, and history has vindicated those who acted to preserve the Union when circumstances demanded it.

It sounds like Lincoln. It's a good answer. Hold it.