Did the Congress ever authorize Lincoln to go to war with the South or did he just order the army into action?
“Did the Congress ever authorize Lincoln to go to war with the South or did he just order the army into action?”
I don’t know if any resolutions were ever passed, but bear in mind that the civil war was not a “war,” so to speak, and therefore required no “declaration” or authorization. Succession was looked upon as illegal, and the rebels domestic insurrectionists.
Yes. Congress was not in session when the Confederates fired on Ft. Sumter. Lincoln acted under terms of the Militia Act of 1795(?), which allowed the executive to act in cases of invasion, rebellion or insurrection. He called on the states to supply volunteers to put down the insurrection and also called Congress back to session. When congress returned, they affirmed all of Lincoln's actions and appropriated the necessary funds for the military.
The only real constitutional question was if Lincoln had the authority to suspend habius corpus on his own, (as he did in Maryland in the days after Sumter when civil authority was breaking down) or did it require an act of congress? The issue has never been resolved by the courts.
Shouldn't the question you should be asking be did the confederate congress authorized Davis to go to war with the U.S. by attacking Sumter? Or did he just start the war all on his own?