Trump Isn’t Above the Law

Josh Chafetz, the author of “Congress’s Constitution,” made an important point about the possibility that President Donald Trump may declare an emergency at the border so he can build his wall even without Congress appropriating money for it. Chafetz correctly sees such a declaration as a form of retreat, rather than an extra-constitutional power grab.

He’s certainly correct that if Trump follows through, he wouldn’t be conjuring up new powers out of thin air. Andrew Rudalevige wrote about this last week: Trump would be claiming authority under a law passed by Congress long ago. Whether he’d be doing so legitimately would be for the courts to decide. Or Congress could pass new legislation — if necessary, over the president’s veto — to clarify that the law doesn’t apply the way that Trump would be claiming it does.