Senate

Rand Paul: Supreme Court likely to strike down Trump emergency declaration

by Jordain Carney - 03/03/19 10:24 PM ET

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) predicted on Sunday that the Supreme Court will likely strike down President Trump’s emergency declaration, adding that the president’s actions went against “the will of Congress.”

“Without question, the president’s order for more wall money contradicts the will of Congress and will, in all likelihood, be struck down by the Supreme Court,” Paul wrote in a Fox News op-ed published on Sunday evening.

The GOP senator predicted that Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s Supreme Court nominees, “may rebuke him on this.”

{mosads}Trump’s emergency declaration is already facing legal challenges. Trump predicted last month that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will block his move to declare a national emergency to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall — but that he’ll win the fight at the Supreme Court.

He said at the time that he hoped the administration would “get a fair shake and we’ll win in the Supreme Court, just like the [travel] ban.”

Trump declared a national emergency after Congress passed legislation giving him $1.375 billion for physical barriers along the border, less than the $5.7 billion he requested.

“Congress clearly expressed its will not to spend more than $1.3 billion and to restrict how much of that money could go to barriers. Therefore, President Trump’s emergency order is clearly in opposition to the will of Congress,” Paul wrote in the op-ed on Sunday.

Paul’s op-ed comes after he told Republicans in Kentucky at a dinner on Saturday night that he could not “vote to give the president the power to spend money that hasn’t been appropriated by Congress.”

But Paul appears to go a step further in the Sunday op-ed, specifically saying he will support the resolution of disapproval when it comes on the Senate floor in a matter of days and outlining his reasons for supporting it.

“Every single Republican I know decried President Obama’s use of executive power to legislate. We were right then. But the only way to be an honest officeholder is to stand up for the same principles no matter who is in power,” Paul writes in the op-ed.

He added that Republicans who were supporting Trump’s emergency declaration after criticizing Obama’s actions “will and should be condemned for hypocrisy.”

“I stand with the president often, and I do so with a loud voice. Today, I think he’s wrong, not on policy, but in seeking to expand the powers of the presidency beyond their constitutional limits,” Paul wrote.

Paul’s vote gives supporters of the resolution blocking the emergency declaration their crucial 51st vote needed to send the measure to Trump’s desk, where he’s warned that he will veto it.

With all 47 senators in the Democratic caucus expected to support the resolution of disapproval, they needed to flip four Republicans. In addition to Paul, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) are expected to vote for the resolution.

Tags Brett Kavanaugh Donald Trump Lisa Murkowski Rand Paul Susan Collins Thom Tillis