An Army officer has sued President Barack Obama over whether the war against the Islamic State is legal.
Capt. Nathan Michael Smith said he strongly supports fighting the Islamic State, but believes Congress has not properly authorized it.
"To honor my oath, I am asking the court to tell the president that he must get proper authority from Congress, under the War Powers Resolution, to wage the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria," he said, according to
The New York Times.
Smith, age 28, is an intelligence officer stationed in Kuwait, the Times report said.
Obama has said he already has the authority to attack al-Qaida after Congress' order enacted after the 9/11 attacks and that since the Islamic State is an offshoot of al-Qaida, then the order still counts.
Obama's administration has asked for new military force authorization, but lawmakers have not acted, according to the Times report.
Harvard law school professor Jack Goldsmith said in the Times that the case would not affect the fighting of the war. He said if the court ruled the fighting illegal, Congress could then quickly authorize it.
Goldsmith said that he believed "the president has gone forward and done what he thinks he needs to do."
Goldsmith has his doubts about whether Smith's lawsuit will succeed. On
LawfareBlog.com, Goldsmith wrote that a likely outcome would endorse the president's unilateral use of power and wouldn't help increase Congress' role in making or authorizing war.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.