Iran, as anyone who has been paying attention since 1979 knows, is the major source of woes in the Middle East. They sponsor terror groups, they supply weapons to Islamic rebels, and they are trying to obtain nuclear weapons, a prospect which nobody wants to see realized.

On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth took to his official X account to put Iran on notice.

Message to IRAN:

We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing.

You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) May 1, 2025

We certainly do know what Iran is doing. We may not know all that Iran is doing, but we know the broad strokes, and we know that they are bad actors.

But how much action can the administration take unilaterally?

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, which power they have not used since 1941. Article II, Section 2 assigns the president the status of Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces, but the actions he can take are limited without Congress.

In 1973, though, Congress passed the War Powers Act, which allows the president to take the country to war with “statutory authorization,” or in the event of a national emergency. Armed forces cannot be deployed for more than 60 days without Congressional action.