When Henry Clay lost his son in the Mexican American War in 1847, he spoke to a public gathering in Lexington, which included a young Congressman Abraham Lincoln in the crowd. Clay’s words still ring true: “A declaration of war is the highest and most awful exercise of sovereignty…such a vast and tremendous power ought not to be confided to the perilous exercise of one single man.”

President Trump viscerally understands that the toppling of Saddam Hussein made Iran stronger. Soleimani, like Hussein, was an evil man who ordered the killing of Americans. Yet, the question remains, whether his death will lead to more instability in the Middle East or less.

The question today is whether the assassination of Soleimani will expand the war to endanger the lives of every American soldier or diplomat in the Middle East?

If we are to go to war with Iran, the Constitution dictates that we declare war. A war without a Congressional declaration is a recipe for feckless, intermittent eruptions of violence with no clear mission for our soldiers. Our young men and women in the armed services deserve better.