Editor's note: Sen. Ted Cruz is a Republican representing Texas. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.
(CNN) -- This week, as we mark the 13th anniversary of horrific attacks on our home soil, Americans should have no illusions about the terrorists who have repeatedly declared their intent to strike America again.
We know the threat of the vicious terrorist organization known as ISIS has concerned the intelligence community for more than a year. And the group's atrocities have been well-documented since it began attacking northern Iraq, and it is deeply concerning that it has taken President Barack Obama so long to develop any kind of strategy to address these increasingly powerful terrorists who have now gruesomely killed two American journalists before the world stage.
On Wednesday evening, the President will finally share with the American people his "game plan," as he calls it, to combat ISIS. It is my hope that he will propose a clear plan, consistent with the Constitution, to keep Americans safe, and that it is not laden with impractical contingencies, such as resolving the Syrian civil war, reaching political reconciliation in Iraq or achieving "consensus" in the international community.
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There are three specific steps that should be taken.
First and foremost, Washington should resolve to make border security a top priority finally, rather than an afterthought, of this plan in light of concerns about potential ISIS activities on our southern border, cited in a Texas Department of Public Safety bulletin reported by Fox News. As long as our border isn't secure, the government is making it far too easy for terrorists to infiltrate our nation.
Second, Congress should make fighting for or supporting ISIS an affirmative renunciation of American citizenship. Numerous Americans have joined ISIS along with hundreds of others from the European Union.
We know that some of them are trying to return to their countries of origin to carry out terrorist attacks. How do we know that? It's already been attempted. On May 24, a suspected French jihadist with possible ISIS ties traveled to Belgium, where he is accused of attacking innocent visitors at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels and slaughtering four people -- and it was reported earlier this week that he allegedly had been plotting a larger attack on Paris on Bastille Day. In August, an accused ISIS sympathizer, Donald Ray Morgan, was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York trying to re-enter the United States.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters assemble at a shrine on Iraq's Mount Sinjar on Friday, December 19. The Kurdish military said that with the help of coalition airstrikes, it has "cleansed" the area of ISIS militants. ISIS has been advancing in Iraq and Syria as it seeks to create an Islamic caliphate in the region.
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On Monday I filed the Expatriate Terrorist Act of 2014, which would amend the existing statute governing renunciation of U.S. citizenship to include fighting for a hostile foreign government or foreign terrorist organization as an affirmative renunciation of citizenship. By fighting for ISIS, U.S. citizens have expressed their desire to become citizens of the terrorist group, which calls itself the Islamic State. We should not permit them to return to America, with a U.S. passport, to carry out acts of terror at home.
It is my hope that this legislation will attract bipartisan support, and will bring Washington together with one united voice in support of keeping Americans safe from ISIS acts of terror.
Third, we should do everything possible to make ISIS understand there are serious ramifications for threatening to attack the United States and for killing American civilians. While damaging ISIS' financial assets is certainly a part of this action, because of the very nature of ISIS, the response must be principally military.
We should concentrate on a coordinated and overwhelming air campaign to destroy the capability of ISIS to carry out terrorist attacks on the United States.
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The President's previously stated goal -- to "shrink" ISIS' "sphere of influence" until it is a "manageable problem" -- is not encouraging. The objective should not be to make ISIS "manageable"; the objective should be to protect the United States and to destroy the terrorists who have declared jihad on our nation.
The White House's suggested ways of countering ISIS have, so far, been naive and ineffective.
Now, faced with the growing threat of the group, Americans are being told Syria and Iran may suddenly be our friends, and ISIS is now our enemy. This is nonsense.
The enemy of our enemy is not always our friend.
Other possible objectives the White House is considering are equally worrisome. We must reject the notion that any U.S. action be contingent on political reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites in Baghdad. The Sunnis and Shiites have been engaged in a sectarian civil war since 632. While we all wish the Iraqis success in their most recent attempt to form a government, it is the height of hubris and ignorance to make American national security contingent on the resolution of a 1,500-year-old religious conflict.
Likewise, any action we take to stop ISIS should not be contingent on any consensus from the so-called international community.
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America is blessed to have good friends and allies who understand the threat of ISIS, and we welcome their support. Indeed, this is an opportunity to reverse the destructive policy of the last five years of reaching out and appeasing our enemies while giving our allies the cold shoulder. Instead, we should partner closely with our friends in the region who are already engaged in this fight, notably Israel, Jordan and the Kurds.
This mission must be led by the United States if it is to be done right, and we cannot make the assembling of a coalition a higher priority than the execution of our mission.
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And, leading that mission requires a clear articulation of the mission. Finally, the President appears to have ruled out making any formal authorization request from Congress to take military action. This is wrong.
I ask the President to reconsider.
Only Congress has the authority to declare war. While our commander in chief has constitutional authority to respond to an imminent danger, Obama has not suggested that is the case. He is reportedly planning a mission that could last as long as three years and may require a range of actions.
Therefore, congressional authorization is required by the Constitution.
Making this formal request would provide the President with an opportunity to present the American people with a clearly defined military objective, tethered to national security, to protect our nation and to unite everyone in the mission to eradicate ISIS.
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A Peshmerga fighter looks down at the body of an alleged ISIS fighter in Zummar, Iraq, on Thursday, December 18.
A Kurdish fighter stands next to a destroyed armored vehicle in northern Iraq on December 18. The vehicle was destroyed by an improvised explosive device placed by ISIS militants.
Peshmerga fighters stop to check a vehicle in Zummar on December 18 as they continue to battle ISIS fighters near the border with Syria.
Pro-Iraqi government forces guard a shrine in Balad, Iraq, on Monday, December 15.
A Yazidi woman displaced by ISIS militants tends to a fire Wednesday, December 10, at a shelter in Dohuk, Iraq.
A Kurdish child from the Kobani, Syria, area holds laundry at a refugee camp in Suruc, Turkey, on Monday, November 17. Tens of thousands of people have fled Kobani, known in Arabic as Ayn al-Arab, to escape ISIS.
Smoke rises from Kobani following airstrikes on November 17. The United States and several Arab nations have been bombing ISIS targets to take out the group's ability to command, train and resupply its fighters.
A Kurdish child from the Kobani area holds on to a fence at a refugee camp in Suruc on Sunday, November 16.
People in Suruc watch smoke rise near the Syrian border during clashes between ISIS members and armed groups on Thursday, November 13.
A bomb (upper left) falls on an ISIS position in Kobani during an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on Saturday, November 8.
Iraqi military forces take up position in Jurf al-Sakhar, Iraq, on November 8.
Fire and smoke rise from Kobani following airstrikes against ISIS on Thursday, October 30.
Iraqi special forces search a house in Jurf al-Sakhar on October 30 after retaking the area from ISIS.
Smoke rises during fighting in Kobani on Monday, October 27.
ISIS militants stand near the site of an airstrike near the Turkey-Syria border on Thursday, October 23.
An explosion rocks Kobani during a reported car-bomb attack by ISIS militants on Monday, October 20.
People watch Kobani from a hill near the Turkey-Syria border on October 20.
Kurdish fighters walk to positions as they fight ISIS forces in Kobani on Sunday, October 19.
A U.S. Air Force plane flies above Kobani on Saturday, October 18.
Heavy smoke rises in Kobani following an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on Saturday, October 18.
Cundi Minaz, a female Kurdish fighter, is buried in a cemetery in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc on Tuesday, October 14. Minaz was reportedly killed during clashes with ISIS militants in nearby Kobani.
Turkish police officers secure a basketball stadium in Suruc on October 14. Some Syrian Kurds have been held there since crossing from Syria into Turkey.
Kiymet Ergun, a Syrian Kurd, celebrates in Mursitpinar, Turkey, after an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in Kobani on Monday, October 13.
Smoke rises from Kobani on Sunday, October 12.
Syrian Kurds from Kobani stand outside the grounds of a refugee camp in Suruc on Saturday, October 11.
Alleged ISIS militants stand next to an ISIS flag atop a hill in Kobani on Monday, October 6.
In this photo released by the U.S. Air Force on Saturday, October 4, a U.S. Navy jet is refueled in Iraqi airspace after conducting an airstrike against ISIS militants.
A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier who was wounded in a battle with ISIS is wheeled to the Zakho Emergency Hospital in Duhuk on Tuesday, September 30.
Iraqi Shiite militiamen aim their weapons during clashes with ISIS militants in Jurf al-Sakhar on Sunday, September 28.
Syrian Kurds wait near a border crossing in Suruc as they wait to return to their homes in Kobani on Sunday, September 28.
Syrian Kurds wait behind border fences to cross into Suruc on September 28.
Tomahawk missiles, intended for ISIS targets in Syria, fly above the Persian Gulf after being fired by the USS Philippine Sea in this image released by the U.S. Navy on Tuesday, September 23.
Turkish Kurds clash with Turkish security forces during a protest near Suruc on Monday, September 22. According to Time magazine, the protests were over Turkey's temporary decision to close the border with Syria.
Syrian Kurds fleeing ISIS militants wait behind a fence in Suruc on Sunday, September 21.
A elderly man is carried after crossing the Syria-Turkey border near Suruc on Saturday, September 20.
A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter launches mortar shells toward ISIS militants in Zummar on Monday, September 15.
An ISIS flag flies on the other side of a bridge at the front line of fighting between ISIS and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Rashad, Iraq, on Thursday, September 11.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reads on a flight en route to Iraq on Wednesday, September 10. Kerry traveled to the Mideast to discuss ways to bolster the stability of the new Iraqi government and combat ISIS.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fire at ISIS militant positions from their position on the top of Mount Zardak, east of Mosul, Iraq, on Tuesday, September 9.
An Iraqi fighter jet flies over Amerli, Iraq, on September 3. Amerli had been under siege by ISIS militants.
Iraqi volunteer fighters celebrate breaking the Amerli siege on Monday, September 1. ISIS militants had surrounded Amerli, 70 miles north of Baquba, Iraq, since mid-June.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces stand guard at their position in the Omar Khaled village west of Mosul on Sunday, August 24.
Kurdish Peshmergas fight to regain control of the town of Celavle, in Iraq's Diyala province, on August 24.
Peshmerga fighters stand guard at Mosul Dam in northern Iraq on Thursday, August 21. With the help of U.S. military airstrikes, Kurdish and Iraqi forces retook the dam from ISIS militants on August 18. A breach of the dam would have been catastrophic for millions of Iraqis who live downstream from it.
Displaced Iraqis receive clothes from a charity at a refugee camp near Feeshkhabour, Iraq, on Tuesday, August 19.
A fighter with Kurdish Peshmerga forces battles ISIS militants near Mosul on Monday, August 18.
Peshmerga fighters inspect the remains of a car that reportedly belonged to ISIS militants and was targeted by a U.S. airstrike in the village of Baqufa, north of Mosul, on August 18.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fire at ISIS in Khazair, Iraq, on Thursday, August 14.
Volunteers of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society unload boxes of goods before distributing them August 14 to families who fled from ISIS.
From the flight deck of the USS George H.W. Bush, which is in the Persian Gulf, two U.S. fighter jets take off for a mission in Iraq on Monday, August 11. U.S. President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes against Islamic militants and food drops for Iraqis who are trapped by the militants.
Aziza Hamid, a 15-year-old Iraqi girl, cries for her father while she and some other Yazidi people are flown to safety Monday, August 11, after a dramatic rescue operation at Iraq's Mount Sinjar. A CNN crew was on the flight, which took diapers, milk, water and food to the site where as many as 70,000 people were trapped by ISIS. But only a few of them were able to fly back on the helicopter with the Iraqi Air Force and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.
Thousands of Yazidis are escorted to safety by Kurdish Peshmerga forces and a People's Protection Unit in Mosul on Saturday, August 9.
Iraqi Shiite volunteers who have joined government forces to fight ISIS take part in a training session near Basra, Iraq, on Thursday, August 7.
Thousands of Yazidi and Christian people flee Mosul on Wednesday, August 6, after the latest wave of ISIS advances.
A Baiji oil refinery burns after an alleged ISIS attack in northern Selahaddin, Iraq, on Thursday, July 31.
A Syrian rebel fighter lies on a stretcher at a makeshift hospital in Douma, Syria, on Wednesday, July 9. He was reportedly injured while fighting ISIS militants.
Iraqis who fled fighting in the cities of Mosul and Tal Afar try to enter a temporary displacement camp in Khazair on Wednesday, July 2.
Peshmerga fighters check cars at the entrance of a temporary displacement camp in Khazair on Thursday, June 26.
Kurdish Peshmerga take their positions behind a wall on the front line of the conflict with ISIS militants in Tuz Khormato, Iraq, on Wednesday, June 25.
Peshmerga fighters clean their weapons at a base in Tuz Khormato on June 25.
New army recruits gather in Najaf, Iraq, on Wednesday, June 18, following a call for Iraqis to take up arms against Islamic militant fighters.
An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter lands on the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, June 17.
Newly recruited Iraqi volunteer fighters take part in a training session in Karbala, Iraq, on June 17.
Members of ISIS prepare to execute soldiers from Iraq's security forces in this image, one of many reportedly posted by the militant group online. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the images.
Iraqi men chant slogans outside of an army recruiting center to volunteer for military service Thursday, June 12, in Baghdad.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces, along with Iraqi special forces, deploy their troops and armored vehicles outside of Kirkuk, Iraq, on June 12.
Children stand next to a burnt vehicle during clashes between Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants in Mosul on Tuesday, June 10.
Civilians from Mosul escape to a refugee camp near Irbil, Iraq, on June 10.
