CIAO DATE: 11/03

U.S. Armed Forces and Homeland Defense The Legal Framework

Paul Schott Stevens

The Center for Strategic and International Studies

October 2001

 

About the Book

In light of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and President Bush's subsequent establishment of an Office of Homeland Security, this report examines the nature and extent of the president's authority under the Constitution and other relevant U.S. laws to entrust the Department of Defense with a role in domestic defense. In particular, it provides a framework within which to consider fundamental legal considerations that arise in the context of the military's involvement in homeland defense.

Specific topics addressed include the:

• constitutional origins of presidential authority;
• "extent and variety of national exigencies";
• principal statutory authorities in domestic emergencies; and
• Posse Comitatus Act.