The War Powers Act of 1973 makes it illegal for a President to go to war without authorisation from Congress. Presidents Regan, GHW Bush, Clinton and Obama have all ignored it.
Again, this does raise pertinent questions about the power of the President, given that foreign affairs is one of the key policy areas given to them by the constitution.
Despite the (at time of writing) on-going events in Libya looking like the "end-game", the fact is that President Obama has used the US military with other members of NATO to bomb a sovereign country. Back in June, the House rejected authorisation of US involvement in the war This post on Salon.comdiscusses the issues in greater depth.
There is obviously the argument that Congress cannot pass laws which contradict the Constitution (especially laws which restrict the power of the President as described in the constitution), and that it is possible to use the armed forces without calling an event a "war". Both of which arguments are useful counters to the above in an essay about Presidential power.
Further analysis here in the Democracy in America blog
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