President Donald Trump's decision to authorize military action against Mexican drug cartels has predictably sparked outrage from critics who invoke sovereignty concerns and warn of another foreign entanglement. They're missing the point entirely. This isn't about American imperialism or invasion—it's about confronting a transnational threat that Mexico has proven incapable of controlling and is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate.

To start, the constitutional authority for this action is unambiguous. Congress has already funded the military capabilities that would be deployed to confront this threat, and Trump's designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations provides the same legal framework we've used against terrorist groups worldwide since 9/11. This is exactly how our constitutional system was designed to work, as it gives the commander in chief the autonomy to utilize the military forces Congress has appropriated as they see fit.

Beyond his legal authority to act lies the moral imperative at play.

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