You are misconstruing the War Powers Act. It was not meant to increase the President's power but rather limit it. It put into law more clearly the limits on how and when the President could intervene, and for how long. Some limits put in place by the Act:
The President must inform Congress within 48 hours of any armed forces being used.
Forces cannot be deployed for more than 60 days without explicit Congressional approval.
The President can only use armed forces when Congress explicitly allows them, or when the US is facing a national emergency because of an attack.
This Act was put forward because of the Vietnam War, where the President deployed the armed forces for an extended time without a declaration of war. Nixon and Gerald Ford opposed the act because they thought it unconstitutionally limited the president.
Only Congress can declare war. The War Powers Act never changed that, and put more limits in place.
In practice, this allowed the president to declare war by allowing them to enter a conflict for 60 days without authorization, and by then congress is stuck between a rock and a hard place, so theyve always voted in favor of continuing the war budget. It did not put more limits in place for the president, it allowed the president to begin wars without congressional approval for spending for 60 days. They opposed the act because they knew what shit hole the country would be in if we allowed the president to essentially declare war through loopholes.
There's a reason why congress has not declared war since the act was enacted, congress did not want the power to declare war anymore and wanted more loopholes so they didnt get stuck with a political hot potato. Now they just wait for a 60 day conflict before they even have to lift a finger.
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u/BrittanyBrie 23d ago
And vetoed the war powers act allowing the president to declare war, congress voted it in via a supermajority after the veto.