As we saw him do last week, Lindsey Graham is once again advocating that Trump using emergency powers to build the wall should Congress fail to fund it:
If White House and Congress fail to reach a deal then President @realDonaldTrump must act through emergency powers to build wall/barrier.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2019
Question: Can states ask federal government to help secure a broken border that is allowing harm to be done to their states?
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2019
Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump have all sent troops to help secure the border in the past.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2019
What’s the difference between troops securing the border and troops constructing barriers to secure the border?
I’m hopeful we can reach a deal between President Trump and Congress, which would be the best way forward.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2019
That last tweet is interesting because last week Graham had given up all hope of a deal. Circumstances have changed since then, however congressional will to fund the border wall appears not to have changed all that much. Honestly, I think he just tweeted that to make sure people knew he would rather Congress fund it than Trump go the emergency route.
But that be said, he’s more than clear that he believes Trump should build the wall using the National Emergencies Act.
However, Justin Amash doesn’t agree:
No. @POTUS can’t claim emergency powers for non-emergency actions whenever Congress doesn’t legislate the way he wants. https://t.co/AZuoZ5CMKP
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) January 28, 2019
When long-time border agents are saying there’s a crisis a the border and it’s worse than they’ve ver seen, how can Amash suggest this isn’t an emergency?
As I said before, should Trump declare a national emergency, Congress can override it if enough of them can agree on it. I’m sure there will be plenty of debate on the issue and perhaps even hearings if Trump makes the declaration.