How Trump Is Warping the Military's Place in the Constitutional Order

"THE BATTLE FOR THE CONSTITUTIO N: The country’s armed services can be an important check against lawlessness in the civilian executive. But correcting bad presidential policy is a job the Constitution leaves to Congress. The president’s word on much national-security policy need not be the last.  Congress can hold hearings to assess the national-security consequences of U.S. action or inaction on the ground, anywhere! It would compromise no constitutional value for Congress to seek the benefit of military expertise in reaching its own judgment about American national security, or otherwise to reassert its role in maintaining a dual system of civilian control. In the meantime, it would be a benefit to the country in more ways than one for Congress to remind the president that the military’s generals are not really “his.”