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Senator Rand Paul continues to insert his unconventional views into the nations foreign policy debate as the 2016 presidential contest gets closer.

The Kentucky Republican has unveiled a proposal that would officially declare war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. The move is an attempt to both rein in presidential war powers and better define the fight against the extremist group that has brutally captured northern portions of Syria and neighboring Iraq.

In addition to declaring war, Pauls proposal sets limitations in the fight against ISIS, including limiting the use of combat ground forces except when Americans are in imminent danger, intelligence reasons or for specific high value topics. Those constraints put Paul at odds with other potential GOP nominees who have derided the president for ruling out ground troops.

Right now this war is illegal until Congress acts pursuant to the Constitution and authorizes it, Paul said in a statement.

In September, President Barack Obama expanded the fight against ISIS, promising to degrade and destroy the group. Congress left town to campaign for the midterms before debating and authorizing the expanded war against ISIS, and GOP leaders have indicated that they likely wont take up the authorization debate before next year.

Paul maintains that the Constitution says it is Congress job to declare war.

Right now this war is illegal until Congress acts pursuant to the Constitution and authorizes it, Paul said in a statement.

Pauls resolution also attempts to limit previous war authorizations -- used by both Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush -- to justify the use of expanded missions and new conflicts. It would end the 2002 authorization for war in Iraq a war that is technically over despite a recent increase in the U.S. troop presence there to curb the expansion of ISIS. Pauls measure would also add an expiration date to the 2001 war authorization for Afghanistan - or forces Congress to reauthorize it every year.

While he will push for the Senate to act during the lame-duck session, he has not received any commitment from Senate leaders. His aides say Paul has spoken with Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who has also been advocating for a new war authorization, about his idea.

Pauls proposal is his latest attempt to shape a foreign policy with positions that often dont fit inside an ideological box. For instance, last spring, he held up the nomination of John Brennan, the nominee to head the CIA, because of the U.S.s use of drones.

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ISIS War 'Illegal Until Congress Acts,' Rand Paul Says

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, speaks at an election rally for Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, at Bowman Field November 3, 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky. Aaron P. Bernstein, Getty Images

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, says he will introduce a bill to declare war on Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) once Congress comes back into session in December. He'll also use the same bill to terminate the authority granted by the 2002 Iraq Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and set a date for expiration of the 2001 AUMF.

In a statement, Paul said, "I believe the President must come to Congress to begin a war and that Congress has a duty to act. Right now, this war is illegal until Congress acts pursuant to the Constitution and authorizes it."

President Obama has been prosecuting the war on ISIS without explicit authorization by Congress. His justification has been that he has the power to act under the 2001 AUMF. A senior administration official, quoted by Time, asserted that the 2001 AUMF, which authorized force against "'those nations, organizations, or persons' responsible for 9/11," could be applied to U.S. action against ISIS (or ISIL, as the administration refers to it) because ISIS had been affiliated with al Qaeda in 2004 and "is the true inheritor of Usama bin Laden's legacy."

After the election, though, the President revisited this stance, saying, "I'm going to begin engaging Congress over a new Authorization to Use Military Force against ISIL. The world needs to know we are united behind this effort, and the men and women of our military deserve our clear and unified support."

Democrats -- and now Paul -- have been pressing for a new AUMF that is specifically intended to address the threat posed by ISIS. Last week, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, penned an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times calling for Congress to vote on a new AUMF before lawmakers leave for the holidays, saying "I believe that Congress -- both Democrats and Republicans -- would support a narrowly tailored authorization that gives the president the authority he needs here."

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Rand Paul to introduce resolution declaring war on ISIS

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Senator Rand Paul wants Congress to declare war on Islamic State. Photo: AP

Washington: Senator Rand Paul is calling for a declaration of war against the so-called Islamic State, a move that promises to shake up the debate over the military campaign in Iraq and Syria as President Barack Obama prepares to ask Congress to grant him formal authority to use force.

Senator Paul, a likely presidential candidate who has emerged as one of the Republican Party's most cautious voices on military intervention, offered a very circumscribed definition of war in his proposal, which he outlined in an interview on Saturday. He would, for instance, limit the duration of military action to one year and significantly restrict the use of ground forces.

Unlike other resolutions circulating on Capitol Hill that would give the president various degrees of authority to use force against Islamic militants, Senator Paul would take the extra step of declaring war - something Congress has not done since World War II.

The president has said he will ask Congress for the explicit authority to fight the Islamic State, although administration officials have insisted that he has the legal power to continue the current campaign. That position has rankled many in Congress who are concerned that the White House has been waging war without the proper oversight or accountability.

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Senator Paul said Congress had ceded too much authority to the president because it had not been able to agree on a war policy of its own.

"War cannot be initiated without Congress," he said, acknowledging that efforts to set legal limits on the scope of the military campaign would face resistance from within his own party.

The administration has said that it is covered under two existing laws: a 2001 authorisation passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks, which Mr Obama has invoked to carry out strikes against suspected terrorists in Yemen and Somalia, and a 2002 authorisation sought by President George W. Bush for the Iraq war.

There are differences of opinion in Congress about what to do with those two laws. Senator Paul's resolution would repeal the 2002 authorisation and terminate the 2001 law after one year. But some lawmakers say those moves would tie the president's hands as commander-in-chief.

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Rand Paul calls for a formal war declaration against Islamic State

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