General Discussion

Two things are important to remember here:

1) Obama, to his credit, is asking for an AUMF (as jwirr points out). But,

2) We've been fighting ISIS for 6 months without an AUMF. And Obama has made it clear that, while he considers it Congress' job to authorize military force, he's prepared to pursue this war with or without Congress, stretching the 2001 AUMF beyond any original intention.

Obama's message to Congress has been: I'm doing this; it sure would be nice if you said okay, but I'm doing it regardless. Congress needs to step up, not because our president needs them but because we need them to rein in the imperial presidency regardless of who is living in the White House.