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By Jeremy Diamond, CNN

updated 10:34 AM EST, Mon November 24, 2014

Washington (CNN) -- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wants Congress to formally declare war for the first time since World War II.

Paul, who is expected to launch a 2016 presidential bid, plans to introduce a resolution when Congress returns in December to declare war against ISIS, also known as the Islamic State. The resolution would also end the 2002 authorization that led to the Iraq war and set an expiration date for the 2001 measure that gives the President the authority to go after al Qaeda terrorists, the two measures the Obama administration has used as backing for the U.S. bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria against ISIS.

The U.S. contends that ISIS is an offshoot of al Qaeda.

Paul's resolution is just one of several circulating on Capitol Hill that would give Obama specific authority to combat ISIS, though Paul's is reportedly the only one that would formally declare war.

The Kentucky Republican's resolution would also pin the war to a one-year timeframe, requiring the President to come back to Congress within a year to get the authority to pursue a U.S. campaign against ISIS.

Paul's call to action comes just two weeks after he called the U.S.'s war against ISIS "illegal," writing in a Daily Beast Op-ed that "it must be declared and made valid, or it must be ended."

Obama said three weeks ago that he would seek the backing of Congress to continue waging war against ISIS, while asserting that he does have the legal authority to continue the U.S. military effort against ISIS.

Paul has sought to shed the perception that he is an isolationist, and the resolution also reinforces his profile as a firm backer of the need to rein in presidential authority.

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Rand Paul urges Congress to declare war on ISIS - CNN.com