On Thursday, after a signing a horrible omnibus package, President Trump announced that he will be declaring a National Emergency in order to receive funding for the border wall. White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, held a press conference on Thursday announcing the President’s decision and here is what she said. This is according to the New York Times.

“President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action — including a national emergency — to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. “The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border and secure our great country.”

This comes after weeks of struggle of trying to get funding for a border wall because Democrats refused to give an inch. So, while I see President Trump’s frustration with this, Declaring a National Emergency is a mistake, and let me explain why.

1. It’s not a complete Emergency

While the National Emergencies Act of 1976 gives the President power to declare a National Emergency, that doesn’t mean the issue at hand is an emergency. While the situation at the border is a serious issue, it is not an emergency by any stretch. This is shown on how President Trump has dealt with this border wall issue. For almost 2 years, President Trump had Republican majority Congress and had every opportunity to push for border funding. The problem is that he did a horrible job in doing so, which is why nothing was passed while Republicans controlled the house. If it truly was an emergency, one would think he would done better. My point is that it doesn’t seem like something that the President needs to expand executive powers over. What will probably happen next is that the courts will strike it down, Trump will complain, and we’ll be back to square one.

2. The Omnibus bill he signed could restrict the National Emergency declaration.

While the President has National Emergency powers, he is under the jurisdiction of legislation, and he can’t simply bypass them. The problem with the omnibus bill he signed is that it only limits him building a wall to certain locations. Since that’s the case, even with the National Emergency declaration, Trump is limited to where he can put a wall. I honestly don’t know why he signed this bill to begin with, it was pure garbage. Like I said before, this was a winning issue for him if he played it right, unfortunately he caved and ultimately got nothing. He should’ve just kept pressuring the Democrats, and make them look unreasonable, because they are.

3. It sets future bad precedent.

Yes, I know this is a unpopular argument, and some would argue that Democrats would have done it anyways. They’re probably right, but that doesn’t make President Trump’s move any more right. The powers of the executive branch were never supposed to be this big. When the founders crafted the constitution, they purposely created the legislative branch in order limit the powers of the executive. The founders rightly feared that if the executive got powerful enough, they would transform into a king thus eliminating democracy. The legislation was constitutionally in charge of making the law, but the problem is that over the years, the executive has become more and more powerful which is what the founders feared. What Trump did here was expand executive even more to where the President can call anything an emergency, and when Democrats win the presidency again, this will backfire. I hate to say it, because they were never supposed to this powerful, but hopefully the Supreme Court will be the last line of defense with this, no matter if it’s a Republican or Democrat, and that’s if the National Emergency declaration is not necessary and an abuse of power.

While I, along with other conservatives are upset at this, we at least are being consistent. The Democrats have no leg to stand on because they would have cheered if Trump were a Democrat. In the end, while I think this is a bad move, it’s not a career killer. As I said before, I think there is an issue at the border and I think there should be a wall, but it’s not the biggest issue in my opinion. I think one of the biggest issues America is facing is the issue of abortion. If I could trade the wall for a complete ban on abortions, goodbye wall. Thankfully, President Trump has been strong on this issue which is why I’m still a supporter.

Update 7/27: The Supreme Court recently approved of the funding of the wall that came Trump declaring a National Emergency. While we won’t get the full wall with this, it is still a win and I’m more than happy to admit that I was completely wrong.

Sources:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/94th-congress/house-bill/3884

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/us/politics/trump-national-emergency-border.html