When former Vice President Al Gore solicited campaign contributions in the White House, in violation of the federal law banning him from raising campaign contributions in the White House, he declared that “no controlling legal authority” had told him his action was illegal.

As President Donald Trump enters U.S. armed forces into a foreign conflict with Iran without congressional authority, his defense is about the same.

Penetrated, isolated, and decimated, Iran’s evil regime is in tatters

On This Day: The bombardment begins!

For Democratic contenders, Iran war presents opportunity and risk

Presidents, going back to Thomas Jefferson, have unilaterally launched wars of various magnitudes, placing Trump in plenty of company. Calling Trump’s unauthorized war “illegal” is true but probably moot, as Jack Goldsmith laid out in an essay Saturday:

“Law is the language we use when criticizing presidential war powers—and it has been since the beginning of the nation,” writes Goldsmith, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel under former President George W. Bush. “But the truth is that there are only political........

© Washington Examiner