By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A leading Democratic senator proposed legislation on Tuesday to block U.S. President George W. Bush from sending more troops to Iraq unless Congress specifically approves. With the new Democratic-led Congress flexing its muscles against the unpopular Iraq war and Bush expected to announce an increase of up to 20,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts said Congress had the authority to block the move. "What we are saying is that before the president sends additional American troops into this civil war, that the president has to come back to the Congress and get authority for that deployment," the Massachusetts Democrat said on NBC's "Today" show. "We have that authority, we have not used it in the Iraq war but we have used it at other times," he said. The move seemed destined to touch off constitutional debate about the role of Congress and whether it can use its authority to stop specific orders by the President -- who is the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces -- once it has authorized the use of force. Congress in October 2002 passed a resolution authorizing the war. Since then the war has taken the lives of over 3,000 members of the U.S. military, and Democrats rode increasing public unhappiness with the conflict to majorities in both houses of Congress in November. Bush on Tuesday continued meeting lawmakers at the White House as he sought to convince them of the necessity of his plan to try and improve the deteriorating situation in Iraq. Bush indicated to fellow Republicans on Monday that he intended to send about 20,000 more U.S. troops as part of a deal with the Iraqi government. Iraq has pledged to strengthen security in exchange for more American soldiers, said Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, who attended the sessions. While many Democrats more recently have backed calls for bringing U.S. troops home, some lawmakers, such as incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden of Delaware, have expressed doubt that Congress can actually block an increase in troops. But Biden says he will introduce a resolution that would express the Senate's sense of disapproval over any White House moves to "escalate" the war. Kennedy, who opposed the war from the beginning, said he opposed cutting funding for troops that were already in Iraq. But in prepared remarks of a speech on his new bill, he said the mission in Iraq had changed so markedly from the one authorized by Congress that Bush should not be allowed to step up the conflict by sending additional troops, without a new authorization from Congress. "My bill will say that no additional troops can be sent and no additional dollars can be spent on such an escalation, unless and until Congress approves the President's plan," he said. Another possibility would be for Congress to attach restrictions to some $100 billion in additional money for the war that Bush is expected to request soon said House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. "That's a possibility for us. There has been some discussion about that," Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters. Last week Democratic leaders of Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, urged Bush to reject a troop increase and begin a phased withdrawal from Iraq. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky)
