constitutionality. do you think it s worth backing the president on this issue of a national emergency if it avoids another government shutdown? look, i think the key fact to remember is to quote john boehner, there s no such thing as a republican party anymore. there s just the trump party. all those senators who are clearing their throats and muttering concerns, they re all going to fall into line. they are all going to sanction this serious erosion of the separation of powers. if there s one principle that has been enshrined in the constitution since the 18th century, it s that congress has the power of the purse. the single exception is this national emergency act of 1976 where every president since then in a handful of uncontroversial cases has reallocated money without congressional authoritizati authorization. this is wildly dramatic
expansion of presidential power. the republicans are going to clear their throats and fall into line like they always do. it s interesting, david. the president, when he was a private citizen, used to rail against president obama when he would move money around. didn t declare a national emergency necessarily. in 2014, the president as a private citizen tweeted this. republicans must not allow president obama to subvert the constitution of the u.s. for his own benefit and because he is unable to negotiate with congress. right. you can imagine that if it was president obama now doing the action that president trump is proposing, republicans would be howling. president obama, it s known he executive ordered the dapa program, not daca, deferred action of parents for americans. it would have provided protections. the obama administration lost in appeals court. there was a supreme court tie that kept it as a loss. it was a clear signal that he had overreached his power as the
was the president was growing worried there were going to be things in the bill that caught him off guard. that was his concern when you showed that clip of him signing the 800 page bill. the white house knew the top lines. but they were going through this. they weren t sure what the restrictions would be on the money they do have for the wall in here, what kind of wall they could build. you have seen disagreement between democrats and republicans on what exactly they would be able to do. that was a concern for the president. you heard him say that. that was a big concern for them. this lobbying from his own staffers helped push him over the line. originally, after we got the report that the appropriators have come up with some sort of compromise, sean han. dale: hannity said it was a garbage compromise. that s what the white house was telling those hosts when they were trying to convince them to spin it more positively this could be a win.
mcdonnell backing the president on that is so stunning. he is someone who has been opposed to the president declaring a national emergency. it really indicates just how much and how seriously the mcconnell thought the president was going to oppose this bill. otherwise, he could have gotten senators to block the president from doing so. by announcing his support, it shows how much the senate republicans who are opposed to a national emergency declaration didn t want another shutdown. go ahead, jeffrey. they re all jeff flake is gone from the senate. his spirit lives on. all these senators, i m so concerned about what the president is going to do. you know they re all going to fall in line. you know they are all going to follow the fox news line that the president needs this power. we will see what happens down the road with other presidents. who knows how that s likely to be a long time ago. this say republican party that has absolutely no principles
35% to 40% like him. 55% don t. that s just how it s going to be. the white house says this makes their argument for them that the fbi is biased, the doj is biased against the president. you have someone before we had the new yo had t the new york times confirming this happened. that s stunning. the white house can point to this and say they debeated wearing a wire. there are officials of the doj, of the fbi, that are against the president. she s right. the white house s line has been and will continue to be this idea that this was a witch hunt. the fbi was out to get the president. because mccabe had that finding from the ig s office of lack of candor, that does make him a target for the president s tweets and attacks. what ultimately matters is what the special counsel finds. this is why you have a special counsel. to take it out of the hands of