Question: Is it legal for the military to refuse to comply with an illegal order from the president?

[stevenleser]

13. That type of potentially illegal order is difficult for members of the military to refuse

I say potentially because congress can always ratify it later so where does that leave you if you refused to obey?

When you are at basic or at one of the various methods to commission, you are given classes on what is and is not a lawful order and suggestions for what to do if given various types. The type you posit here is not discussed.

Generally the types of unlawful orders discussed are:
1. Senior officer orders you to their home to wash their car. That is an unlawful order. The general suggestion is to do it but report it later.

2. Senior officer orders you to physically harm or kill someone on base they dislike. You must disobey, get out of the situation and report it.

3. Senior officer orders you to commit fraud or similar crimes. Again, you must refuse or extricate yourself from the situation at your earliest possibility and report it.

4. Various battlefield situations like ordering to kill prisoners of war, killing civilians, etc. Obviously you must disobey most of those.

What you are talking about in terms of an unlawful order is a matter for the branches of government to handle via their checks and balances. You cannot ask the military to sort that out. That is congress' job.