The phrase "authorize the operation" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts where permission or approval is being granted for a specific action or task to be carried out.
Example: "Before we proceed with the project, we need to authorize the operation to ensure everything is in compliance with regulations."
Alternatives: "approve the action" or "grant permission for the task".
But, Mr. Donilon added, Mr. Obama could authorize the operation on his own.
The decision to authorize the operation — and not to inform Italy in advance — was made personally by Mr. Cameron, a fact he acknowledged in his statement on the raid Thursday night.
The report came one day after the House Speaker, John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, had sent a letter to Mr. Obama warning him that he appeared to be out of time under the Vietnam-era law that says presidents must terminate a mission 60 or 90 days after notifying Congress that troops have been deployed into hostilities, unless lawmakers authorize the operation to continue.
When the release authorizing the operation was put in front of me, I signed it.
The regional archbishop, José Cardoso Sobrinho, excommunicated the mother for authorizing the operation.
A man who appeared to be overseeing the demolition said the Interior Ministry had authorized the operation after discovering people had been worshiping the graves and practicing "black magic".
But the Clinton legal team argued that Congress had implicitly authorized the operation to continue by appropriating specific funds for it.
At the hearing, Republicans pressed a Justice Department witness as to who else in Washington authorized the operation or was aware of it.
Because of such sensibilities, the law authorizing the operation must be extended every year, setting the stage for an annual political fight.
Mr. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Mr. Issa, Republican of California, have accused the Justice Department of obstructing their investigation into who authorized the operation, which was begun in fall 2009 by the Phoenix field division of the bureau.
The overwhelming vote in the House on Friday against approving American participation in the NATO action in Libya raised a question in Washington: Why did President Obama not press harder for a vote authorizing the operation months ago when the intervention was more popular?
