Kaine welcomes President's war powers request

Sen. Tim Kaine, perhaps the most vocal advocate for the need for Congress to formally authorize the use of force against the Islamic State, is pleased to see President Barack Obama agree.

Kaine has met with Obama and other administration officials over the past year to argue his case that the Constitution requires Congress authorize the use of force overseas.

"I'm glad we are finally going to have the kind of debate the framers of the Constitution intended," he said, adding: "War is the most serious thing we do.

Some of what Obama is asking of Congress is what Kaine wanted to see. Some needs work, he says.

On the plus side: Obama's proposed authorization includes a "sunset" -- it won't be good for more than three years.

That doesn't necessarily mean the U.S. will stop trying to bring down the Islamic State, Kaine says.

"It means the next president would have to assess ... and come back to Congress and talk about was still needed," he added.

The president's proposal formally repeals the 2002 war powers authorization that Obama had argued gave the authority for air strikes and training support for Iraqi and Kurdish forces battling the Islamic State. That, too, is something Kaine wanted. It's not good policy to leave hanging an open-ended authority to send troops overseas, in his view.

In the "still needs work" area: Kaine would like to see more specific language on ground troops.

The language in the authorization talks about not using troops in offensive action.

Kaine has suggested an authorization say no ground troops except for rescue missions, spotting for air strikes and Special Forces missions against high value targets.

That kind of concrete language would be more helpful, he said.

Senators and Representatives probably will also want more detail about any U.S. role in Syria, where the Islamic State controls much of the northern part of the country, he said.

And, he said, Congress will also want to hear more about what other nations in the region are contributing to the anti-terror fight.

"We can't police a region that won't police itself," he said.

That question will be especially important in discussing what, if any, role American ground forces might have -- the boots on the ground issue.

“The question is, whose boots?” Kaine said.

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