Congress Debates War Authorization Power

Guest: Ryan Vogel, JD, PhD, Professor of International Law, Director of Center for National Security Studies, Utah Valley University US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are currently testifying on Capitol Hill about something called an AUMF. It stands for Authorization for Use of Military Force, and, in 2001, Congress passed one allowing the President to go after Al Qaeda for carrying out the 9-11 terror attack. Sixteen years later, the US is battling terror across the Middle East and in Africa under that same authorization. But the foes have changed: ISIS, Al-Shabbab, Boko Haram—and with the recent death of four US soldiers in Niger, there are questions about whether that original authorization to go to war still applies.