By the Constitution the power to "declare war" is vested in Congress,
and by the same instrument it is provided that "the President shall be
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States" and that
"he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed."
When Congress have exerted their power by declaring war against a
foreign nation, it is the duty of the President to prosecute it. The
Constitution has prescribed no particular mode in which he shall perform
this duty. The manner of conducting the war is not defined by the
Constitution. The term _war_ used in that instrument has a
well-understood meaning among nations. That meaning is derived from the
laws of nations, a code which is recognized by all civilized powers as
being obligatory in a state of war. The power is derived from the
Constitution and the manner of exercising it is regulated by the laws of
nations. When Congress have declared war, they in effect make it the
duty of the President in prosecuting it, by land and sea, to resort to
all the modes and to exercise all the powers and rights which other
nations at war possess.
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