Mistreatment of Proper Authority

The concept of proper authority is becoming an increasingly vague line. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry suggests that proper authority "resides in the sovereign power of the state." To me, this is a very broad category ranging from government officials to the President to the Congress to the people as a whole and there is no definite notion on who this statement entails. With a foreseeable struggle of power the founding fathers created a clause in the Constitution that states, in order for the United States to engage in military conflict the Congress must first pass a declaration of war. As we all know the presidents of the past half century have taken it upon themselves to do as they see fit with the United States military, ranging from conflicts in Vietnam to today's present occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This hijacking of authority by the president should be condemned by Congress and the people of the United States, but instead we continue to fight conflicts with falsified targets and objectives. This action is not only unethical in practice, but jeopardizes the balance of power in the United States. Thus, I believe the people of the United States should demand a return to the principles of Jus ad Bellem, more specifically the declaration of war by a proper authority, by holding presidents accountable for their serious, unethical mockery of just war principles.