Sen Joe Biden said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire today that, if the president bombed Iran, "I will move to impeach him."

According to The Raw Story, former Florida congressman and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough defended a bombing of Iran, saying that it is unfortunate "when you have Ahmadinejad talking about obliterating Israel, talking about obliterating the United States, talking about building nuclear weapons, how we can't stop him. Saying just absolutely horrendous crazy things, sending Iranian forces into Iraq to kill American troops." What Scarborough fails to understand, though, is that the president cannot engage in war without the express authorization of Congress. It's quite plain in Article I: Congress has the sole authority to declare war. For the president to engage in any action that could be construed as a declaration of war, he needs Congress' authority. If he engages in such actions without Congressional authorization, he has broken the law.

All right, Justice Scalia, let's play hardball. What was the "original intent" of the writers of the Constitution in giving Congress authority to declare war, and not the president? It was to prevent exactly this kind of situation: where a president unilaterally goes to war. Going to war takes money, and only Congress can decide how to spend the nation's money, thus only Congress can authorize going to war and spending that money. Furthermore, it acts as a check against the president. Sure, he might be in charge of the armed forces, but he can't use them unless Congress says so. Funny how this president is testing the limits of constitutional authority, isn't it? They were written for just this sort of occasion.

Unless Alberto Gonzales has advised the president that he does have the authority to go to war against Iran, using a legal doctrine he made up last night, the president will have no justification for going to war. The machinery of government is slow and deliberate, so as to prevent hasty decisions from being made.

What about "impeachment"? While the president's authorization of war is certainly unconstitutional, it does not follow that that authorization is criminal. But Biden is certainly welcome to try.