Someone else posted about Pelosi questioning a general on the president's ability to launch a nuclear strike. Here is more info. He can. He has the absolute authority and could make a whim decision. Would the military obey, or argue it is an illegal order? I do not know. When I was in the Navy, I was on the Roadrunner team. We received the messages for nuclear deployment at a tactical, not strategic, level. I can assure you that no one is going to accidentally cause a nuclear war. That said, the President of the United States holds absolute control. He could call for a nuclear attack on Tehran and technically it would be a legal order, as things stand now. It is scary, but the rules were made, as the article out, to keep the military from doing it if they wanted to do so.

[npr.org]