STEPHEN L. CARTER: Trump Doesn’t Need Congress to Strike in Syria. “The result is that the commander in chief can order the U.S. military into action whenever it suits his judgment. Many people, myself included, are uneasy with that hard truth. For better or worse, however, it’s been our practice for a very long time. Clinging to the long-dead notion that Congress must first declare war might be comforting, but it has nothing to do with reality.”