Well, yes, it's unconstitutional, and, yes, process is important, but what made me uneasy is that I was always worried someone would actually take Ron up on his suggestion – that is, introduce a formal declaration of war. And when my worst fears were finally confirmed, and someone did introduce just such a resolution, wouldn't you know it would be Ron's son – Sen. Rand Paul!

Okay, I totally get what Sen. Paul is trying to do. As the New York Times report on Sen. Paul's resolution puts it:

"Mr. Paul, a likely presidential candidate who has emerged as one of the Republican Party's most cautious voices on military intervention, offered a very circumscribed definition of war in his proposal, which he outlined in an interview on Saturday. He would, for instance, limit the duration of military action to one year and significantly restrict the use of ground forces."

Well, yes, but there are several problems with Sen. Paul's resolution. To begin with, the junior Senator from Kentucky claims a state of war exists because

"The Islamic State presents a clear and present danger to our diplomatic facilities in the region, including our Embassy, in Baghdad, Iraq, and our consulate in Erbil, Iraq."