The article clarifies the constitutional and legal status of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, its nature, its place in the system of state authorities and the specifics of granting separate powers and the problems that arise in the practice of their implementation. It was concluded that in the language of armed aggression against Ukraine and encroachment on its territorial integrity by the ruscist regime, the discussion of issues related to the national security and defense of Ukraine acquires special importance. The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, which acts as a coordinating body for national security and defense under the President of Ukraine (Article 107 of the Constitution of Ukraine), becomes a very important body of public authority in wartime conditions. According to the Constitution, it coordinates and controls the activities of executive authorities in the field of national security and defense. We have two models (from the constitutional law of foreign states). The body could be purely advisory (Poland, Turkey, Kosovo, Estonia), or would be empowered to make a number of important defense and security decisions (Montenegro). In the Ukrainian case, use the word "coordination", which is unlikely to be purely of a recommendatory nature. However, in this case, the issue of granting some powers to the National Security Council, and not, for example, to the Cabinet of Ministers, should be well-founded and truly related purely to issues of defense and national security. The doctrine of the limitation of the President's powers by the Constitution itself is built into the constitutional design for a reason (Article 106 of the Constitution). Despite the rather broad and evaluative formulation of the President's powers regarding leadership in the field of national security, individual law enforcement by imposing sanctions, assigning the status of an oligarch, etc., can hardly be characterized exactly as "leadership". Their application is more related to the implementation of state policy in this area. That is why, perhaps, one should think about granting the relevant powers to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. After all, the very nature of the Cabinet consists in ensuring the implementation of state policy. In addition, Art. 116 of the Constitution (clause 10) directly allows the Cabinet of Ministers to be empowered by laws.