war powers

American  

plural noun

1. the powers exercised by the president or by Congress during a war or a crisis affecting national security.

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Etymology

Origin of war powers

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

On a special Slate Plus extra episode of Amicus, Mark Joseph Stern spoke with Eugene Fidell about Trump’s startling claim of unilateral war powers.

From Slate • Mar. 2, 2026

Representatives Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., are looking to force a vote on a war powers resolution.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026

The president’s war powers are left largely undefined except for his having the title “Commander in Chief.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 5, 2025

That authorization stretched across four administrations to permit open-ended combat against Islamist militant groups around the world and ultimately rewrote the law defining the president’s war powers.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2023

Where in last analysis does the Constitution place the ultimate powers of sovereignty, the war powers?

From Lincoln; An Account of his Personal Life, Especially of its Springs of Action as Revealed and Deepened by the Ordeal of War by Stephenson, Nathaniel W. (Nathaniel Wright)