What Constitutes Congressional Oversight?

Congress's "effort to micromanage the Iraq war," by sending the president a bill this afternoon with a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces, "is nothing less than shameful," argues Heritage's Peter Brookes.

Let's play devil's advocate for a minute. Fact: Each branch of government is supposed to act as a check and balance on the others. Question: If the legislative branch disapproves of an action taken by the executive, what should it do?

To wit, what should Congress do with respect to war, so as not to "micromanage"?

Is oversight limited to such things as a (toothless) Sense of the Congress resolution? Or, since Congress has the power of the purse, should it defund the war by withholding money or tying money to certain conditions (say, that Iraqi oil pay for 25% percent of our expenses)?