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The constitutional text

Article I · Section 10

Select any highlighted phrase to understand what it means.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Source: National Constitution Center edition. Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

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202 elements · 219 connections · One constitutional systemOpen the reader
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Article I, Section 10, Clause 3d

A state’s emergency defense exception

Current text
or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

What it means

A state may not engage in war without congressional consent unless actually invaded or facing imminent danger that cannot await delay. The exception preserves immediate defense in narrowly described circumstances.

Historical setting

The Articles contained related rules recognizing that a state might confront danger before national authorities could respond. The Constitution retains an emergency qualification within a generally national allocation of war powers.

What it does

The state must identify the relevant constitutional emergency rather than simply disagree with national policy. The meaning of invasion and the limits of self-defense are important legal questions, especially when political rhetoric uses military language broadly.

Debate & interpretation

The rule balances national control against the impossibility of requiring a government to remain defenseless during an immediate attack. Its strict conditions prevent urgency from becoming a standing justification for independent state war-making.

A common misreading

Declaring a situation an emergency does not automatically establish the constitutional conditions for a state to engage in war.

Think it through

What distinguishes a threat that permits consultation with Congress from a danger that genuinely cannot admit delay?

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Sources & further reading

Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context, and interpretive disagreements.

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