Democratic Divide

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2007 — -- The liberal lion of the U.S. Senate roared today.

"Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

The longtime opponent of the war in Iraq today introduced a bill that would require congressional approval for President Bush's anticipated move for a surge in troops to Iraq, and would withold all troops and dollars from being part of a surge if the measure were to fail.

But within Democratic circles, Kennedy is finding opposition, as some senior Democrats claim they have no constitutional place in waging the war.

"There's not much I can do about it; not much anybody can do about it," Sen Joe Biden, D-Del, told NBC on Sunday. "He's commander in chief. If he surges another 20, 30 (thousand) or whatever number he's going to, into Baghdad, it'll be a tragic mistake, in my view, but, as a practical matter, there's no way to say, 'Mr. President, stop.'"

Biden said it is "unconstitutional to say, 'we're going to tell you you can go, but we're going to micromanage the war.'"

Biden is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on a symbolic "Sense of the Senate" resolution that would express disapproval of the president's proposed surge. Their hope is that if enough Republicans would support the measure the president would feel pressured to change course.

"If we have a bipartisan resolution, the president is going to have to take note of that," Reid told reporters today, saying the bill could be introduced next week.

But legal scholars say any Democratic deference to the president is based not on constitutionality and war powers but political considerations.

"The Constitution gives the Congress the power to say, 'No more war, we are going to stop funding this war,' or to put conditions on it as they see fit," Georgetown University law professor Neal Katyal told ABC News. "The founders are absolutely clear: By giving Congress the power to declare war, and the power to fund war, they gave Congress, not the president, the power to get ourselves out of war."