Donald Trump‘s pathetic betrayal of our Kurdish allies in northern Syria highlights the importance of Congress taking seriously its constitutional obligation to define and authorize war.

Not only has Trump moved US forces out of the region and turned it over to Russia and Syria, but he has also moved US forces into Saudi Arabia to help them with a potential war against Iran and to support their ongoing genocidal bombing campaign of Yemen.

The Constitution gives to Congress the sole power to authorize war. Congress has not used this authority since World War II, a complete and cowardly surrender of their own power for nearly four generations.

It’s time for Congress to seriously debate what’s going on in the Middle East and explicitly authorize or de-authorize our participation in warfare in the region.