Evening star., 1950-06-29
precedents Are Citet
For Action Taken by
President on Korea
Congress Should Rutify
Moves at Once for
Technical Reasons
By David Laurence

for instantaneous action by the
President Of the United States
without the formal consent o1
Congress when an emergency
arises threatening the security oi
American citizens.
The closest parallel occurred
on April 81, 1914. when. in the
midst of civil war in Mexico
President Wilson ordered Amer
ican naval forces to capture the
port of Vera Cruz, Mexico. in or.
der to prevent the landing Of
arms which might be used against
American lives and property. The
fighting took place all of that day
The next day-April %, 1914
the Congress passed resolution
ratifying the action Of the Chief
Executive in ordering combat op-
erations outside of the territory
of the United States.
1t is true that the President had
asked for the power on April 90
before the seizure of Vera Cruz
occurred, but Congress did not act
until after the warfare had be-
gun.
Dozens Of Instances.
Again and again in dozens OF
instances in the Caribbean area
and also in Peking, China. in the
Boxer" rebellion of 1900, Pres
idents have ordered American
armed forces to engage in shoot
ing in order to protect American
citizens and their property, and
this has long been recognized in
international law books as ex-
ecutive prerogative without the
need Of congressional approval.
The Constitution of the United
States, by plain implication. ap-
proves emergency action by the
President without the consent oi
Congress. Article I says in part
mo State shall, without the
consent of Congress engage
in war, unless actually invaded
or in such imminent danger al
will not admit of delay"
Clearly the Constitution by in.
ference would permit the same au.
thority to be exercised in behalf
Of all 48 States of the Unior
which it so explicitly delegates tt
q single State. The American
Armed Forces in Japan, for exam.
pie. are carrying out a specific
task with the full authority oi
Congress. This has been affirmed
several times by Congress in ap.
preparation laws since VI Day
as, postwar occupation duty o1
the highest Importance.
To say that the President of the
United States, as Commander-in-
Chief Of the Armed Forces, may
not take instant action to protect
such forces by thwarting a pos
sible aggressor who might attack
them is to live in the 10Th century
instead of in the atomic age. The
best expression of the doctrine
was given by the late President
Roosevelt in an address to a joint
session of Congress on May 16,
1910, just six days after Hitler
invaded Belgium and the Neither
lands and started his march which
led to the conquering of France.
What Roosevelt Said.
MIR. Roosevelt said to Congress:
Surely, the developments of
the past few weeks have made it
clear to all of our citizens that the
possibility of an attack on vital
American zones ought to make il
essential that we have the phys
icaf. the ready ability to meet
those attacks and to prevent them
from reaching their objectives. .
IAN effective defense by its very
nature requires the equipment tc
attack the aggressor on his route
before he can establish strong
bases within the territory OF
American vital interests"
President Truman in his Tues
day statement to the world, re-
citing that he had ordered Amer
lean armed forces into Korea
took care of the constitutional
point thus:
THE attack upon Korea makes
1t plain beyond all doubt that
communism has passed beyond
the use of subversion to conquer
independent nations and will now
use armed invasion and war. II
has def1ed the orders of the Sc
curity Council of the United Ma
tions issued to preserve interna-
tional peace and security. In these
circumstances the occupation OF
Formosa by Communist forces
would be direct threat to the
security of the Pacific area and to
United States forces performing
their lawful and necessary func-
tions in that area"
Obviously the conquest of Korea
by the Communists would be ever
a greater threat against the Sc
curity of United States forces in
Japan.
There are many technical rea-
sons, having to do with pensions
legal claims and other matters
affecting the status of those
American troops now engaged in
defense of Korea, which would
make it seem desirable for Pres
ident Truman Immediately to ask
Congress to pass a resolution rati-
flying what has been done. Such a
resolution could also authorize the
continued use of the armed forces
to bring to state of security the
Pacific area affected by the ag.
gression from Communists ir
North Korea. Congress this weel
surely would pass such a resolu.
ton by overwhelming vote.
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