‘Hard To Imagine A Poorer Case’ Than Trump’s National Emergency Declaration, Says Adam Schiff
In an interview broadcast on Sunday, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said that it is “hard to imagine a poorer case” than Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration, Newsweek reports.
Schiff went on CNN’s State of the Union to discuss a number of pressing issues. Notably, the Democratic congressman discussed the legality and the constitutionality of President Trump’s order, as well as the Republican Party’s reaction to it. Schiff argued that Trump’s declaration is different than those of his predecessors because Trump’s order came after Congress refused to allocate money for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“This is the first time a president has tried to declare an emergency when Congress explicitly rejected funding for the particular project [a border wall] that the president is advocating,” he said.
The House Intelligence Chairman added that President Trump essentially admitted that there is no emergency during a press conference when he said that he is only declaring it to speed up the process. That statement alone, according to Schiff, makes Trump’s case “poor.”
“He’s pretty much daring the court to strike this down. So it’s hard to imagine a poorer case.”
Legal experts have weighed in on the matter as well. As detailed by a previous Inquisitr report, frequent Trump defender and constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz described Trump’s order as a “mistake,” pointing out that there is indeed no emergency at the southern border, and arguing that it is difficult to make the case that there is, since immigration is a long-term issue.
Not unlike Schiff, Dershowitz argued that Donald Trump’s executive order will be challenged in courts, predicting that a tough legal battle awaits the president. During a press conference, Trump appeared aware of the risk but is confident that all issues will be resolved at the Supreme Court.
Trump's national emergency will be "a real test" for Republicans, Congressman Schiff warns https://t.co/MO9NJEgSFA
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 18, 2019
In agreement with Trump, Dershowitz said that the legal battle will likely reach its epilogue at the Supreme Court, but refrained from predicting the outcomes since the court is “new.”
Discussing the legality of Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration, Adam Schiff opined that the president’s order will be a “test” for the Republican Party. According to the Democratic congressman, Republican lawmakers now have the chance to prove that they’re devoted to the rule of law, and that they respect the principle of separation of powers.
“If we give away, if we surrender the power of the purse, which is our most important power, there will be little check and no balance left. It will not be a separation of powers anymore, just a separation of parties,” Schiff concluded.
