WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The United States needs a new law requiring that the president consult with Congress before going to war , a blue-ribbon panel led by two former secretaries of state said Tuesday . James Baker , left , and Warren Christopher led a panel that recommended a new War Powers Act . The current War Powers Resolution is `` ineffective , and it should be repealed and it should be replaced , '' James Baker said in a joint appearance with Warren Christopher , announcing the results of the study they led . The recommendation follows failed efforts by Democrats in Congress to put a stop to the war in Iraq or to put conditions on President Bush 's conduct of it . Congress passed a joint resolution to authorize armed force against Iraq in 2002 , but some Bush opponents say it should not have been interpreted as a blank check for the United States to invade and occupy the Persian Gulf nation . Baker , who served in George H.W. Bush 's administration , and Christopher , who served under President Bill Clinton , said their project was not prompted by any specific war , with Christopher adding that the commission had `` tried very hard not to call balls and strikes on past history here . '' `` We did n't direct this report at any particular conflict , '' Baker added . The existing law , the War Powers Resolution of 1973 , has been regarded as unconstitutional by every president since it was passed as a response to the Vietnam War , Baker and Christopher said . It requires presidents to report regularly to Congress about ongoing conflicts , but the provision has been flouted . `` No president has ever made a submission to Congress pursuant to the War Powers Resolution since 1973 , '' former Sen. Slade Gorton , a Republican member of the committee , said Tuesday . The panel , formally called the National War Powers Commission , said a new law should be created requiring the president to consult with key members of Congress before sending troops into combat expected to last more than a week , or within three days of doing so in the case of operations that need to be kept secret . It should also make clear exactly who the president needed to consult . The panel suggests that the president talk to `` a joint Congressional committee made up of the leaders of the House and the Senate as well as the chairmen and ranking members of key committees . '' The new committee would have a permanent professional staff with access to intelligence information , Baker and Christopher said . Congress , in turn , would have to declare war or vote on a `` resolution of approval '' within 30 days , they said . If a resolution of approval failed , any member of Congress could introduce a `` resolution of disapproval , '' but it was not clear that such an act would stop a war in progress . Christopher was unable to say in the news conference what practical effect congressional disapproval would have . Baker said the commission had been in touch with the presidential campaigns of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain , as well as leaders of Congress . He declined to reveal what they thought of the proposal , but said : `` We have n't gotten a negative reaction . '' Congress has not officially declared war since 1942 , when the United States entered formal hostilities with the Axis powers in World War II . But since then , presidents have sent troops into countries including Korea , Vietnam , Grenada and Iraq . The Constitution makes the president the commander in chief of the armed forces , but gives Congress the power to declare war and approve military budgets . Baker and Christopher 's group included both Republicans and Democrats and held seven meetings over 14 months .