Quit pretending you GAF about the Constitution...We all know you don't, except when the context is convenient for you.
We say the same thing about you guys.
Trump’s ‘Emergency’ Action: Unlawful and Unconstitutional
Presidents have no extra-constitutional powers during real emergencies, much less fictitious ones.
For example The federal courts and ultimately the Supreme Court should quickly and emphatically hold that President Trump’s attempt to fund the border wall by declaring a national emergency is illegal and unconstitutional. In 1974, when President Richard Nixon made an unprecedented claim of executive power to resist complying with a subpoena from the Watergate special prosecutor, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected this assertion and enforced constitutional checks and balances. We should hope and expect that even the conservative Roberts Court, with two justices appointed by President Trump, will likewise follow the Constitution and reject Trump’s dangerous claim of emergency powers.
The Constitution has no clause that gives the president emergency powers. This was a deliberate and wise choice. The framers of the Constitution wanted to make sure that its
requirements, including checks and balances, are enforced even in times of crisis. Indeed, when prior presidents have tried to claim inherent power to deal with emergencies, the Supreme Court has rejected such claims.
During the Korean War, President Harry Truman seized the steel mills to assure continued steel production in the face of a labor dispute. The Supreme Court, in
Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer (1952), decisively ruled against President Truman and rejected his claimed authority to take actions to deal with a national emergency. The Court stressed that Truman’s actions violated the separation of powers and usurped the powers of Congress.
President Trump’s attempt to spend money for building a wall without congressional appropriation of funds for this purpose directly violates the Constitution.
Likewise, President Trump’s attempt to spend money for building a wall without congressional appropriation of funds for this purpose directly violates the Constitution. The Constitution reads, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” Under the Constitution, Congress has the power of the purse and it is impermissible for the president to spend money without specific statutory authorization.
No such authorization exists for building the border wall. Trump repeatedly has urged Congress to provide such funds. Even when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, from 2017 to 2019, Trump could not get this authorization. More recently, the government shut down for a month because Congress would not appropriate the funds Trump wanted to build the wall. For Trump to fund the wall unilaterally without congressional approval, even by claiming a national emergency, is clearly unconstitutional.