Lawmakers want Biden to seek Congress' approval for troop deployment — Business Insider

Congress has always wanted this.

LTC Eugene Chu
..."The lawmakers' letter came amid escalating tensions surrounding the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

On Tuesday, Biden said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine had begun. This came after Russia recognized two separatist territories in eastern Ukraine as independent, and announced it was sending so-called "peacekeepers" into the region. The area that Russia is sending troops into — Ukraine's eastern Donbas region — has been consumed by a war between Kremlin-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces since 2014. Russia also invaded Ukraine in 2014, annexing Crimea in the process.

The president warned Russia that the US and its allies would "defend every inch of NATO territory." He also announced that additional US troops would be headed to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Biden has repeatedly said that US troops will not be sent into Ukraine to defend it against Russia. Since Ukraine is not a NATO member, the US is not obligated to defend it in the event of an attack.

"The idea the US will unilaterally use force to confront Russia invading Ukraine is not in the cards," Biden told reporters in December. "We have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO allies under Article 5. It's a sacred obligation. That obligation does not extend to ... Ukraine."

Reiterating this position last Friday, Biden said the US "will not send troops in to fight in Ukraine, but we will continue to support the Ukrainian people."

Similarly, Biden in his remarks on Tuesday said, "We have no intention of fighting Russia."

That said, the US and other NATO members have provided Ukraine with security assistance, including lethal aid. Biden in his speech on Tuesday said that this assistance would continue as he warned that Putin appeared poised to take more of Ukraine's territory by force. "

He doesn't have to comply.
The War Powers Resolution (also known as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 or the War Powers Act) (50 U.S.C. ch. 33) is a federal law intended to check the U.S. president's power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S. Congress. The resolution was adopted in the form of a United States congressional joint resolution. It provides that the president can send the U.S. Armed Forces into action abroad only by declaration of war by Congress, "statutory authorization", or in case of "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces".
The War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, with a further 30-day withdrawal period, without congressional authorization for use of military force (AUMF) or a declaration of war by the United States. The resolution was passed by two-thirds each of the House and Senate, overriding the veto of Republican-Elected President Richard Nixon.
It has been alleged that the War Powers Resolution has been violated in the past – for example, by President Bill Clinton in 1999, during the bombing campaign in Kosovo. Congress has disapproved all such incidents, but none has resulted in any successful legal actions being taken against the president for alleged violations.