# Expert Available: The Constitutional Case Against Trump’s Iran Strike 

On Saturday, President Donald Trump acted with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike top Iranian leadership and a variety of other targets, bypassing congressional authorization.

March 3, 2026 • News Releases 

On Saturday, President Donald Trump acted with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike top Iranian leadership and a variety of other targets, bypassing congressional authorization.

A new [article](https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___https://zwly9k6z.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:*2F*2Fwww.theunpopulist.net*2Fp*2Ftrumps-unauthorized-strikes-on-iran/1/0100019cb4ab7d78-50cc9720-60bb-40a1-a61e-c0a546053dd0-000000/yoUS70LRPYaxWtQpIVZ6D1ZbVBI=468___.YXAzOmNhdG9pbnN0aXR1dGU6YTpvOjk5MWJiYTQxZjk1MDdjNGZhN2Q5YmQ5MGZlM2IyNGI4Ojc6ZTczYzo1ZDgxYzMxY2NkZmY0ZDI4OTEyYjE0MDQ4ZjAyOGViYzRlODBlMmI1MTJkMTM5MDllYmM3ZWNkMjgwOTRhZjAyOmg6VDpO) by [Ilya Somin](https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___https://zwly9k6z.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:*2F*2Fwww.cato.org*2Fpeople*2Filya-somin/1/0100019cb4ab7d78-50cc9720-60bb-40a1-a61e-c0a546053dd0-000000/k6Oq1zRVaUOtL5Y1ZyMIWoKCrX0=468___.YXAzOmNhdG9pbnN0aXR1dGU6YTpvOjk5MWJiYTQxZjk1MDdjNGZhN2Q5YmQ5MGZlM2IyNGI4Ojc6MWExMDpjMDdiMmNlOWE4YjRjMWJhYzYzM2YxYzE2MzQ1NWU5YmRmYWExNjVjMDNlZmI0MmExYjEyOWU3MWY1OWQxNDJjOmg6VDpO), the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, details why this act is clearly unconstitutional, in part writing:

> *“Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war. Debates about the extent to which presidents can initiate relatively small-scale military actions have raged for decades. But this attack is very obviously large enough to qualify as a war. That means it just as obviously requires congressional authorization. Trump didn’t get any—in fact, he did not even try to do so.*
> 
> *Don’t take my word for the proposition that it’s a war. Take Trump’s! He himself has called it a war, and proclaimed that the objective is regime change.”*

To speak with Somin about the constitutionality of the war in Iran, contact [Christopher Tarvardian](mailto:ctarvardian@cato.org).

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).