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Authorization to Use Military Force

An Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) resolution, an authorization or an authorizing resolution for short, is a congressional enactment that authorizes the president to use military force. Today, it is accepted as a legal substitute for a congressional declaration of war. For example, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 holds that

the constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces. (Pub. L. No. 93-148; 87 Stat. 555)

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