Posted on 01/28/2019 4:31:40 AM PST by cowpoke
Daniel Horowitz While many have complained that the 1976 National Emergencies Act (NEA) is too broad, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) memo, which was first posted by the Daily Caller, makes it clear that that this act actually limited the president’s authority relative to what it was before: By 1973, Congress had enacted over 470 statutes granting the President special authorities upon the declaration of a “national emergency,” but had imposed no substantive or procedural limitations on either the President’s discretion to declare an emergency or the duration of such emergencies. After a Special Committee of the Senate concluded in a 1973 report that the President’s crisis powers “confer[red] enough authority to rule the country without reference to normal constitutional process,” Congress enacted the NEA in 1976 to pare back the President’s emergency authorities. But if you look at the text of the NEA, the only substantive burdens it placed on the president during such a declaration are to articulate which statue he is using, publish the proclamation in the federal register, and transmit to Congress all relevant regulations and expenditures under such declaration. It also forces the president to renew the declaration every year and authorizes Congress to disapprove of the declaration with a two-thirds vote in both houses. In other words, it mandated more transparency on the president relative to our prior history, but never imposed upon him legally enforceable conditions for determining whether the problem rises to the level of a national emergency. To give a sense of how common the use of this power is, the CRS notes that “31 national emergencies declared pursuant to the NEA are in effect, with Presidents having renewed certain emergencies for decades.” They also cite an analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice that confirms “136 statutes provide the President with emergency authorities that he can invoke pursuant to the NEA.” One of those authorities in effect today is the president’s power of blocking assets and prohibiting transactions with significant narcotics traffickers, which was put into effect in 1995 when the drug problem was a fraction of what it is today. Nobody can deny that the drug crisis is a national emergency, with tens of thousands of people dying every year from the drugs brought in by the cartels at our border. I’ve already explained that upon a declaration of emergency, the president has the power to use unobligated defense funds to construct infrastructure when he deploys soldiers at our border and when that construction, in this case the wall, is “necessary to support such use of the armed forces.” It is very hard to read the statute as placing justiciable limits on this determination, and as such, any question of whether the wall is needed for a military operation is a political one to be debated in Congress and not a legal one to be debated in court. The CRS notes that it would be unprecedented for a court to second-guess the president’s determination of what is needed to support a military operation. But as the CRS makes clear, the president’s authority to construct fencing to counteract transnational organized crime and drug trafficking is unlimited and does not even require the declaration of a national emergency...MORE
The political class, including many conservative insiders, will look at you with wild eyes if you suggest that president has the authority to either declare an emergency at our border or use defense funds for an operation that should be the highest priority of national defense. But Congress’ own research arm makes it clear that such delegated authority to the president has been the norm since our Founding.
Trump as Commander in Chief has the constitutional power to order the Army Corp of Engineers to build a wall along our Southern border for whatever reason he deems appropriate. He can order funds already allocated to the Pentagon to be used. He does not need a “state of emergency”. The real problem is that he has surrounded himself with old globalist generals and neo cons who scuttle his policies and instincts. He still does not know how to wield power.
I'm sure you'd do a much better job
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He still does not know how to wield power.
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I’m sure you’d do a much better job
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I would counter many on FR would do a HELL of a job pin-pointing their Constitutional authority/powers and calling out the abuses in general.
As of today (IIRC), Trump, unfort., has NEVER pushed-back on the usurpation\over-reaches of the Left\Judiciary.
And FR’s would NEVER (I hope) have re-’authorized’ DACA. I too hope they would have pointed out the ‘emergency powers’ aren’t Congress’ to “give” and the 4-5 *EXISTING* “National emergencies” (as well as all prior non-Exec EOs) are null/void
But of course, we have SO many barfly experts in Free Republic who regale us with their enormous expertise. LOL
My old employer used to say, “If I were king, things would
be different!”.
I used to tell him, if it ever looked like he could
become king, I would kill him myself.
Unfortunately, at this level, you are probably correct.
Yet he is putting up a better fight for us than anyone has since Reagan. God bless him.
Very true. People rightly shudder at the thought of a Hillary Clinton Presidency and are eternally grateful that Trump rose up and prevented that abomination. However it is not subterfuge in a free and open society to criticize and critique any leader, even one that on balance you continue to support.
” Even Congress’ research arm vouches for Trump’s border funding authority”
But I’m sure the Democrats will find a California Obama appointed judge to issue a stay on it and of course the ninth circuit appeals court will back that. The Supreme Court will then decide that Pres. Trump can do it but how long will that take?
The democrap goal is dual track—delay wall/funding until Trump is impeached out of office or voted out. Problem solved (except for a possible ugly rebellion).
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