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Is The War Powers Act Too Broad Or Too Restrictive?

President Barack Obama announces he has sent Congress an authorization for the use of military force against Islamic State with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in the Roosevelt Room at the White House February 11, 2015 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama announces he has sent Congress an authorization for the use of military force against Islamic State with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in the Roosevelt Room at the White House February 11, 2015 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Members of Congress are responding to President Obama’s request for official authorization to wage war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State, also called ISIS or ISIL.

Many Republicans say the proposal doesn’t go far enough, while some Democrats are worrying it’s too open-ended. At the heart of the debate is the sentence that would prohibit “enduring offensive ground combat operations.”

Democratic Congressman John Yarmouth of Kentucky joins Here & Now’s Robin Young to discuss the request for authorization of war, and whether the War Powers Act is too broad or too restrictive.

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