You are doing a good job trying to understand and apply Federal Law.
However, an Act of Congress (law) is a higher authority than a Federal Regulation (CFR) which is the executive branch's implementation of the law. In this case the applicable law is Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5206.
There is a higher law than the Stafford Act, the Constitution, which states that the US government will only intervene upon 'application' of the state Legislature (or Executive):
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
From FEMA's website http://www.fema.gov/pdf/rrr/dec_proc.pdf
In 1988, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5206, was
enacted to support State and local governments and their citizens when disasters overwhelm them. This law, as
amended, establishes a process for requesting and obtaining a Presidential disaster declaration, defines the type and
scope of assistance available from the Federal government, and sets the conditions for obtaining that assistance. The
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), now part of the Emergency Preparedness and Response
Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security, is tasked with coordinating the response.
Isn't our system of government an awesome invention? Two hundred twenty four years and counting.
I thought that the CFR's were just the recorded and printed version of the various Acts of Congress ref.
The fed often exercises extraordinary authority in spite of constitutional prohibitions; noble document that it is, it really doesn't address (nor should it) the complexities and sheer size of America as we know it today. For example (and mind you...this has nothing to do with a declared national state of emergency), the fed can go in and close down you municipal water supply for not meeting E.P.A. standards, close down your school for not meeting A.D.A. standards, or seize property by various D.E.A. task forces, for illegal drug use, distribution, or sales.
It defies common sense that the fed wouldn't have at least as much authority under a state of declared national emergency that they already routinely exercise under far less draconian circumstances.