Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts Preview: This War is Obscenely Illegal
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Mar 2, 2026 
Eugene Fidell, Yale Law School lecturer and armed conflict expert, gives a crisp legal tour of war powers and international law. He dissects constitutional limits, shifting presidential rationales for strikes, and why Congress must reclaim its authority. Short, urgent takes on legality, accountability, and the stakes for American democracy.
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Law Still Matters In Modern War Decisions
- Legal scholarship sometimes claims law is irrelevant to modern conflicts, but Fidell rejects that shrug.
- He argues the legality of war matters for democratic norms and accountability, not just abstract theory.
Constitution Assigns War Power To Congress
- The Constitution vests the power to declare war in Congress, not the president.
- Eugene Fidell emphasizes Article I Section 8 and notes declarations or AUMFs are Congress's responsibility, with only narrow imminent-threat exceptions for presidents.
Shifting Rationales Enable Executive Warmaking
- Presidents often justify unilateral strikes with shifting rationales like regime change or prevention of future harm.
- Fidell describes a pattern where one legal rationale is replaced by another, enabling drift from constitutional limits.