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By Ashley Killough, CNN

updated 11:18 AM EST, Mon November 10, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Sen. Rand Paul declared the war against ISIS "illegal" in a new opinion piece Monday, urging conservatives to speak out against President Barack Obama's decision not to seek congressional authorization for military action against the terrorist group.

"This war is now illegal. It must be declared and made valid, or it must be ended," the Kentucky Republican wrote in an op-ed published Monday by the Daily Beast.

The U.S. began airstrikes in Iraq in early August and in Syria in September, citing a 2001 measure known as the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) as the president's legal basis for going after terrorist threats.

Paul cites the War Powers Resolution of 1973 in stressing his long-held position that all military action must be approved by Congress. The exception is when a situation is considered urgent. In that case, a president has 60 days to get authorization after military action. If there's no approval from Congress, the president has 30 days to end the mission.

Rand Paul plants feet between both sides of foreign policy debate

While Paul said he doesn't think the War Powers Resolution specifically applies to the ISIS situation -- because the U.S. had not been attacked -- he notes that even if it did, the president's time would be up.

"Taking military action against ISIS is justified. The president acting without Congress is not," he wrote, reiterating a stance he's held since September. This fall Paul has described the airstrikes in Syria as appropriate action but said Obama's method for doing so was "unconstitutional."

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Rand Paul: ISIS war is 'illegal' - CNN.com

Rand Paul is actively prepping for a presidential run and will likely announce a bid formally in April, according to a new report.

The Kentucky Republican, long rumored to have been seriously considering a presidential run in 2016, will set up his campaign headquarters in Louisville, Politico reported Monday.

Paul, who was elected to the Senate in 2010, plans to run for reelection to the chamber a decision hell announce within the next few weeks and will campaign simultaneously for both offices, the report said.

Advisers to the freshman senator told Politico that Paul hoped to have his campaign up and running by the middle of April.

Polls have steadily shown Paul to be a leading contender for his partys nomination. Those that dont have him in first place show him trailing only narrowly to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

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Rand Paul will announce 2016 bid in April: report - NY ...

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul may have to choose between keeping his Senate seat and running for the presidency. Andrew Nelles/AP hide caption

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul may have to choose between keeping his Senate seat and running for the presidency.

Everyone knows Sen. Mitch McConnell had a great election night in Kentucky last week. As for the state's other Republican senator, Rand Paul, that's a different matter.

That's because while McConnell was cruising to a big re-election win on his way to becoming Senate majority leader, things did not go so well for Paul. He was hoping Republicans, who already control the Kentucky Senate, would also take over the state House a result that would grease the path for a state law allowing him to run for both re-election and the presidency at the same time.

But that failed to happen. And the Democrats who are still in charge of the state House are disinclined to pass a law to help Paul.

Kentucky's Democratic House speaker Greg Stumbo refused to take up the two-ballot-spots-at-once bill earlier this year because it was designed for a single person, in violation of Kentucky's constitution. "There's only one guy who's talking about holding onto his Senate seat and also running for United States president," he told NPR.

Kentucky law prohibits a candidate from running for two different offices at once. Republican Sen. Rand Paul is running for re-election and is also exploring a bid for president. Kentucky Legislature hide caption

With Stumbo still in control, Paul may eventually have to choose between running for the White House and holding onto his Senate seat.

Officially, keeping the Senate seat remains Paul's only goal at this moment. "Sen. Paul is 100 percent focused on his re-election," says spokesman Dan Bayens even as Paul openly discusses his interest in running for president.

Paul's situation is similar to, but much more difficult than, those facing other Republican senators thought to be considering a 2016 presidential run.

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Rand Paul's Kentucky Problem

BATON ROUGE, La. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is still months away from an announcement on whether he will run for president in 2016, but there is no question he is laying the groundwork for a possible bid.

On Monday, Paul was playing political power broker in Louisiana. He was center stage at a rally where the losing Tea Party-aligned candidate Rob Maness buried the hatchet with establishment favorite GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy to present a unified front against Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in the Dec. 6 runoff here.

Im glad I could be here and do it, Paul told Fox News. I do want to be part of bringing [together] all facets of the party. The party doesnt need to be smaller. The party needs to be bigger.

Paul is the rare Republican who is able to straddle many factions of the party without alienating any one of them. He is a Tea Party favorite and speaks the language of libertarians. And while some establishment Republicans view him with either skepticism or outright disdain, the presumed new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has endorsed Pauls potential presidential bid.

Thats a potent formula for surviving the caucuses and primaries.

Paul also has a lot of chits in the bank after the midterm elections. He traveled to more than 30 states to campaign for Republicans. Putting to bed the bitter feud between Maness and Cassidy puts a powerful coda on his exhaustive work for the party particularly if Cassidy denies Landrieu a fourth term.

So far, the numbers look good for Cassidy. While he came second to Landrieu in the so-called jungle primary, the combined Republican vote theoretically gives him a 13-point advantage. Landrieu has been trying to pick off Maness supporters, but this new alliance makes the task much tougher for Landrieu.

Just like me, one of the centerpieces of [Maness] argument is that Senator Landrieu supports Barack Obama 97 percent of the time. He is taking our country in the wrong direction, Cassidy told Fox News.

While the math isnt in her favor, Landrieu is not about to go down without a fight. Her campaign just released a harsh new ad, selectively editing moments from a speech Cassidy gave to the Republican Leadership Conference in May to make him look incoherent and bumbling. Landrieu is also hammering Cassidy on his record of opposing Medicaid expansion and supporting raising the retirement age to 70.

Hes now going to have to run on his own record, Landrieu told Fox News. Hes run on everything else but his own record.

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Rand Paul plays party healer after midterms, with eyes on 2016

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Republican Senate candidate Bill Cassidy finally got the tea party assist Monday that he sought in his bid to oust Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, drawing the endorsement of his former GOP competitor and rallying with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

Tea partyer Rob Maness is urging the more than 202,000 people who voted for him in last week's midterm election to cast ballots for Cassidy in the Dec. 6 runoff a coalition that could give Cassidy a decided edge over Landrieu.

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Rand Paul headlining GOP rally in La. Senate race