The legal standing behind President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration about the border is "very questionable," and Congress has the right to vote against it, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz argued Monday.
"Emergency generally means something that happens so quickly that there isn't time for Congress to act," Dershowitz told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "I don't think an emergency includes a failure by the branch of government that is authorized to expend funds, namely the House of Representatives and Congress, to authorize the funds the president wants to see authorized, and they refuse to do it. I don't think that's an emergency."
Trump could then veto the measure, he conceded, so Congress would need to have a veto-proof majority, and he doesn't know if that will happen.
"Many members of Congress, including Republicans, are upset at what they believe is a presidential power grab over the legitimate power of Congress to authorize expenditures of money for long-term problems, not problems that suddenly appear on the horizon," said Dershowitz.
He added that there will likely be some district courts striking down some parts of Trump's emergency provision and its expenditures, while others will uphold it and it will end up in the Supreme Court, where its fate is not known.
"The real question is what happens in the meantime," said Dershowitz. "If the courts grant a stay, they say there is no emergency. If there is an emergency, you don't grant a stay."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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