President Trump Is Right: Our Border Is In Crisis, And Congress Is Ignoring It

After promising again and again to stop illegal immigration, cartel violence, and the drug epidemic, members of Congress are complaining that Donald Trump is now taking action.

Since the National Emergencies Act became law in 1976, U.S. presidents have declared more than 50 emergencies. More than 30 are ongoing. In the past, presidents of both parties have used their emergency powers to reallocate federal funds, reassign government employees, and build infrastructure to protect Americans from terrorist attacks, weapons of mass destruction, and drug cartels.

Our country has been in a continuous state of emergency for nearly four decades, not that Congress ever noticed. Not once has Congress reviewed a single declaration in a timely manner, as the law requires. Not a single time have members, who routinely vote to fund all sorts of unauthorized, constitutionally questionable federal programs, voted to terminate one of these declarations.

Congress originally granted presidents broad authority to declare emergencies undefined in legislation because emergencies are unpredictable by nature. As our Founders understood, the idea that Congress should forever deliberate over a possible military action could leave our country defenseless in the face of immediate danger.

Also, constitutionally speaking, the presidency has inherent power to direct the military, the main purpose of which is to defend U.S. territory. If foreign adversaries were to suddenly attack Texas or California, is there any doubt the commander-in-chief should have the power to act without committee hearings first?

Finally, Congress has never voted to disapprove an emergency declaration, because the most political branch of government prefers to delay or deny its responsibilities and grouse later. After promising again and again to stop illegal immigration, cartel violence, and the drug epidemic, and failing to close any legal loophole or the porous border causing these deadly problems, members are complaining that Donald Trump is now taking action.

Read the rest from Scott DesJarlais HERE at The Federalist.