No War Is Illegal (When They All Are) [SUBSCRIBER-ONLY]

6 min

•Mar 17, 2026about 1 month ago

Summary

This episode examines the constitutional and historical basis for war powers in the United States, tracing how presidents from both parties have systematically expanded executive authority to conduct military operations without formal congressional declarations. The hosts explore how the U.S. has fought three full-scale wars and bombed at least 10 countries since 9/11 despite only officially declaring war 11 times in its entire history.

Insights

Presidential war powers have expanded dramatically through bad faith arguments about what constitutes 'war,' allowing military action without formal declarations
Congress has abdicated its constitutional responsibility to declare war, lacking political will to constrain executive military authority across both parties
Modern warfare (cyber attacks, drone strikes, bombing) operates outside traditional legal frameworks, creating a gap between constitutional intent and contemporary military practice
The post-9/11 era represents an extreme escalation in militarism both domestically and internationally, fundamentally reshaping how the U.S. exercises power globally
The lack of official war declarations since WWII despite continuous military engagement reveals a systemic erosion of constitutional checks and balances

Trends

Executive overreach in military decision-making without congressional oversight becoming normalized across administrationsRedefinition of 'war' to exclude drone strikes, cyber operations, and limited bombing campaigns to avoid legal constraintsBipartisan failure to enforce constitutional war powers, suggesting structural political dysfunction rather than partisan disagreementPost-9/11 militarization creating permanent state of undeclared conflict with multiple nations simultaneouslyExpansion of presidential authority as precedent for future administrations regardless of political partyConstitutional ambiguity around modern warfare methods enabling legal gray zones for military actionCongressional abdication of war powers authority as a long-term trend rather than temporary phenomenon

Topics

Constitutional war powers and presidential authorityCongressional war declaration history and modern absenceExecutive branch military overreachPost-9/11 militarism and foreign policyDrone strikes and cyber warfare legal frameworksUndeclared wars and military operationsChecks and balances erosionTrump administration Iran and Venezuela military actionsBipartisan political will on war powersModern warfare definition and legal classificationCongressional oversight of military operationsCommander-in-chief authority limitsInternational military intervention legal basisWar powers authorization mechanismsExecutive power expansion precedent

People

Donald Trump

Current administration's military actions in Iran and Venezuela discussed as example of expanded executive war powers

Benjamin Netanyahu

Referenced sarcastically regarding geopolitical control over regional military decisions

Quotes

"this is an illegal war. And you're like, what does that mean? What does that mean in this context?"

Michael•Early in episode

"We have only declared war against other countries officially 11 times in the total existence of the United States. We have not done that since World War II."

Riannon•Mid-episode

"in the last 26 years, we have had outright three full scale wars. We have bombed at least 10 countries."

Michael•Mid-episode

"there are bad faith arguments about what the definition of war is. What does it, if the president has some limited authority to do war, well, what does it mean if the president says, well, I'm not doing war, right?"

Peter•Mid-episode

"a lack of political will in both political branches, but especially in Congress to constrain the executive branch"

Peter•Late in episode

Full Transcript

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For a limited time, guys, 5-4 listeners can get a free pocket pivot and their 10-pattern sprayer with the purchase of any size Copperhead hose. Just text 5-4, all spelled out to 64,000. That's 5-4, all spelled out to 64,000 for your two free gifts with purchase. 5-4, all spelled out to 6-4-0-0. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Hey everyone, this is Leon from Prolog Projects. On this subscriber only episode of 5-4, Peter, Riannon, and Michael are telling the story of war in America and tracing the evolution of the law around who in the government gets to decide when the country starts one. As the Trump White House continues its war in Iran, it felt like a good time to take a look at what the Constitution has to say about the power to declare war and how various presidents from both parties have pushed this power to its absolute limits, broadening it so that America can drop bombs wherever the president wants without congressional approval. This is 5-4, a podcast about how much the Supreme Court and the unchecked power of the executive to wreak havoc around the globe suck. Welcome to 5-4, where we dissect and analyze the Supreme Court cases that have closed off our rights. Like Iran closing off the Strait of Hormuz. I'm Peter. I'm here with Michael. Hey everybody. And Riannon. Straight up, shut. Shut. Shut. I see a lot of people being like, oh, Trump's gonna taco. And I'm like, maybe Trump will chicken out, but we're not really up to him anymore now, is it? He doesn't really get to decide when the straight opens. Yeah. Yeah. No, Benjamin Netanyahu does. Our glorious king, one level above the president. It's the first time in a while we've done a topical opening metaphor, one that ties into the episode, because today we are talking about war powers. The power to declare and conduct wars. This has been, of course, in the news a bit lately with Trump's actions in Venezuela and especially Iran. And it's confusing. And I imagine that most people are watching the news wondering what exactly the law says about this. You might hear someone say, this is an illegal war. And you're like, what does that mean? What does that mean in this context? So we're going to walk you through the law and the history and explain how past generations lead the groundwork for Donald Trump, for Donald Trump to swoop in and do Donald Trump shit. Yeah. We're going to talk about some history and how the hell we got to where we are in terms of a context of modern warfare that puts us in endless, constant, perpetuated wars with other countries all of the time now, wars that are executed in many different ways in terms of operations, whether that's cyber attacks, drone strikes, outright bombing, invasion, all of these things. But meanwhile, we have this modern context of how warfare is done in the year 2026. But meanwhile, you have this history of very limited or not as much as you would expect in terms of congressional action on war. We have only declared war against other countries officially 11 times in the total existence of the United States. We have not done that since World War II. But okay, wait, in the last 26 years, we have had outright three full scale wars. We have bombed at least 10 countries. I think that is a conservative estimate. I think that the U.S., in terms of cyber attack and drone strikes, has had operations and many more than that. And those stats are just again since 9-11, right? I don't think you can be overstated. We've been a very sort of militaristic society, but that has ramped up after 9-11 to an extreme degree, both domestically and abroad. Right at home, you have surveillance at abroad. You have invasions. You have drones. You have all of that. And so what you're going to see throughout this discussion as we build on what is the history of the war powers, the authorization, whether they're president or congress, what we're going to see is these common themes, that there are bad faith arguments about what the definition of war is. What does it, if the president has some limited authority to do war, well, what does it mean if the president says, well, I'm not doing war, right? I'm doing something else by initiating war or bombing. And I think what we're also going to talk about throughout this history, certainly, certainly in the modern era, is really a lack of political will in both political branches, but especially in Congress to constrain the executive branch, to constrain the president as commander-in-chief in doing all of this war and getting us to where we are right now. Hey, folks, if you want to hear the rest of this episode, you're going to have to subscribe. This episode is one of our premium, Patreon-only episodes. Membership starts at just five bucks a month. So if you want to hear the rest, join us at patreon.com. That's five four pod, all spelled out. Members get a bunch of stuff. Not only do you get access to the premium episodes, but access to subscriber-only events, discounts on merch. And at the $10 a month level, you get bigger discounts on merch and membership in the incredibly rowdy five to four slack. So again, that's patreon.com slash five four pod, five four pod all spelled out. Become a member today.