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The United States and Iran are at war. They have been at war for at least 89 days, since Feb. 28. And U.S. President Donald Trump’s prosecution of this war of choice without authorization by Congress is unconstitutional.

Those simple propositions are—and should be—obvious. The United States has 50,000 service members deployed to the region and it has employed an astounding collection of military hardware, including three carrier strike groups, two of which remain on station there. By April 8, it had launched 10,000 sorties against at least 13,000 Iranian targets; damaged or destroyed more than 150 Iranian warships, as well as every one of Iran’s submarines; and killed (in combination with Israel and other belligerents) some 3,500 Iranians. Since April 13, the United States has enforced a blockade against Iranian ports, interdicting at least four and turning around at least 100 ships. By May 12, the U.S. operation had cost at least $29 billion and resulted in the loss or damage of at least 42 U.S. combat aircraft.

The United States and Iran are at war. They have been at war for at least 89 days, since Feb. 28. And U.S. President Donald Trump’s prosecution of this war of choice without authorization by Congress is unconstitutional.

Those simple propositions are—and should be—obvious. The United States has 50,000 service members deployed to the region and it has employed an astounding collection of military hardware, including three carrier strike groups, two of which remain on station there. By April 8, it had launched 10,000 sorties against at least 13,000 Iranian targets; damaged or destroyed more than 150 Iranian warships, as well as every one of Iran’s submarines; and killed (in combination with Israel and other belligerents) some 3,500 Iranians. Since April 13, the United States has enforced a blockade against Iranian ports, interdicting at least four and turning around at least 100 ships. By May 12, the U.S. operation had cost at least $29 billion and resulted in the loss or damage of at least 42 U.S. combat aircraft.

Iran, for its part, has launched thousands of missiles and drones at U.S. bases in the region, inflicting substantial damage to U.S. military infrastructure; killed at least seven and wounded at least 409 U.S. service members; and destroyed as much as 20 percent of the U.S. fleet of MQ-9 Reaper drones. It declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to hostile shipping, causing a global oil shock, and attacked U.S. warships in an effort to enforce that declaration. This accumulation of facts amounts to war in every meaningful sense. Certainly it is, as philosopher Emmerich de Vattel defined the term, a “state in which [nations are] prosecut[ing] [their] right by force.”

But acknowledging the existence of a war between the United States and Iran is a substantial legal problem for Trump. The Constitution assigns to Congress alone the power to choose whether or when the United States goes to war. Although it has long been accepted that the president may use force in self-defense, in response to an attack on the United States, he simply lacks the........

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