Is anyone familiar with the Commerce API and how to get an ERR_WS_REQ_PAYMENT_AUTHORIZATION response from the order.submit(paymentauthorization{}) method?

You need to be using a Payment Processing Profile with Payer Authentication enabled. Ensure that if you're testing or in sandbox, that you use the correct test card details that will allow testing Payer Authentication/3D Secure. A lot of payment gateways I've used previously won't allow you to test this easily, so it depends which gateway you're using. The support for the feature can be a bit hit-and-miss in my experience.