Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution begs to differ. It clearly states that the power to declare war rests within the legislative branch - the branch closest to the people. The founders were a war-weary people, and the requirement that it would take an act of Congress to go to war was intentional. They believed war was not to be entered into lightly, so they resisted granting such decision making authority to one person. They objected to absolute warmaking power granted to Kings. It would be incredibly naïve to think a dictator could not or would not wrest power in this country.
Our Presidents can now, on their own: order assassinations, including American citizens; operate secret military tribunals; engage in torture; enforce indefinite imprisonment without due process; order searches and seizures without proper warrants, gutting the 4th Amendment; ignore the 60 day rule for reporting to the Congress the nature of any military operations as required by the War Power Resolution; continue the Patriot Act abuses without oversight; wage war at will; and treat all Americans as suspected terrorists at airports with TSA groping and nude x-rays.
Americans who are not alarmed by all of this are either not paying close attention, or are too trusting of current government officials to be concerned. Those in power right now might be trustworthy, upstanding people. But what of the leaders of the future? They will inherit all the additional powers we cede to the current position holders.
Put all that thinking into accord with an expanded Bill of Rights, a Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and freedom from hunger, homelessness, oppressive labor, and denial of basic medical needs such as innoculations, preventative checkups, dental health, and routine surgeries. Extreme medical measures may be optional, and market determined, subject to regulation to prevent gouging. The wealth to assure this for every human, given sensible population growth policy, exists and the protections can be instituted, it being a matter of will and not resource limitations. "Rights" do not reach to automobiles, four wheelers, marble flooring, hot tubs, liquor, tobacco or other troublesome drugs.
Ron Paul has a large part of things correctly analyzed, and he totally misses the boat on other things. Yet he does have that part-way understanding lacking in most who have journeyed in search of power to DC. Dayton correctly analyzed it as a cess pool, and now he's not one lone ignored legislative voice, but top dog. He must be happy with the challenge of trying to stamp out all forms of meanness and idiocy from that advanced perspective, and not from a lesser one.