During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to "call for a standing, bipartisan consultative group of congressional leaders on national security. I will meet with this consultative group every month and consult with them before taking major military action."

The conduct of foreign policy has long been a bone of contention between the executive and congressional branches. In particular, the question of declaring war -- a right explicitly reserved for Congress in the Constitution -- has proved controversial, as presidents in recent decades have shown a willingness to conduct major and protracted military actions overseas with something short of an unequivocal congressional declaration of war. One attempt by Congress to rein in the president on matters of war -- the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which came in the midst of the Vietnam War -- has largely been sidestepped by presidents since.

Matters came to a head since 2003 with the prosecution of the Iraq war. Many congressional Democrats argued that President George W. Bush bullied and misinformed lawmakers into green-lighting military action, and during the 2008 campaign, Obama took up the view of many in his party that the needle had shifted too far in the direction of unilateral executive branch action. He promised to shift the balance of power somewhat by providing a more important role for Congress.

Since becoming president, Obama has indeed met with congressional leaders to discuss national security issues. We've located at least two instances during which national security issues were the primary agenda item.

On March 26, 2009, the president briefed four Democratic senators and a half-dozen House leaders on policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., did not attend, citing prior commitments, and were briefed separately.

On Oct. 6, 2009, Obama met with bipartisan congressional leaders as he determined his military strategy for Afghanistan.

However, searches using Google, Whitehouse.gov and Nexis uncovered no public evidence that the administration has acted on the broader, more systematic idea outlined in the promise.

A bipartisan duo of former secretaries of state -- Republican James Baker and Democrat Warren Christopher -- have teamed up to write proposed legislation that would institutionalize congressional consultation. They wrote in an op-ed column that their bill would "consistent with" the approach of the promise we're rating here. But we could find no evidence that such a bill has been introduced in the current session of Congress.

The president has indeed consulted with Congress on several occasions, but the meetings appear to be ad-hoc rather than the institutionalized gatherings suggested by the promise. Until the president takes steps toward providing something more systematic, we're rating this promise Stalled.