Congress not passing the resolution doesn't change anything, legally

[cthulu2016]

9. There is no mechanism for limiting presidential interpretation, hence

it means whatever the President thinks it means until that interpretation is corrected after the fact.

My point in the OP is that unless the war powers acy was supended for Syria then the president would remain free to interpret however he wished.

Try this to see if it makes the point. The president most certainly think he DOES have the authority under the war powers act. So as long as that part of law remains the same he will continue to think so.

That's why the act would have to be ammended. The argument "It already doesn't apply" might be right, but that argument is not preventing squat.

The War Powers Act mostly prevents a President from fighting a secret war for very long. (Like our secret war against Cambodia.) The real dictates are about notifying Congress.

The authority granted, however, is clearly advisory since there is no enforcement mechanism.

Congress could impeach upon notification of any undeclared war starting, with a Senate trial to determine whether the President had acted correctly. (Like the automatic review of a policeman shooting somebody)

They could do that. They have the power. They chose not to use it.