The contours for a congressional authorization are murky at best. One could argue that portions of the 2001 AUMF serve as justification for the U.S. raid last week in Syria against an ISIS leader. But ISIS didn’t even exist when Congress approved that AUMF to invade Afghanistan and take on al Qaeda following 9/11. Many Democrats – and some Republicans – suggest that multiple presidential administrations have abused AUMF’s for decades now. They say the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush, Obama, Trump and even Biden have leaned on these older AUMFs as a crutch when they need to act overseas.