I believe that at the time of the Civil War President Lincoln had every right to do the things that he had done. Author Harold J. Spaeth, Ph.D., J.D. from Michigan State University states “In deciding four cases concerning vessels captured while running a naval blockade shortly after the Civil War began, the Court sustained the president’s action, by saying: “If a war be made by invasion of a foreign nation, the president is not only authorized but bound to resist force, by force. He…is bound to accept the challenge without waiting for any special legislative authority. And whether the hostile party be a foreign invader, of States organized in rebellion, it is none the less a war.” Congress later enacted legislation ratifying the president’s proclamation.” Basically what that meant was that Lincoln did not have to wait for approval from congress in order to take some serious actions.