the separation of powers are the president has some powers and the congress others. and to do this there has to be an unusual and extraordinary threat. and the president, in my opinion, has made no factual basis to support this kind of extraordinary and unconstitutional action. but, the other difference between executive action and declaring an emergency, is the emergency is declared through a congressional act. it s the 1976 national emergency act. what you will hear from white house lawyers, and many legal scholars is there may be a leg to stand on as this goes through the courts. because this is power that congress gave the president. right. so there is there is there is a congressional law, but keep in mind that the united states constitution trumps the laws. and so you cannot have a law that basically circumvents separation of powers. and so the question is, number one, is this a true emergency that justifies this type of action? we ve watched now for months where they ve
require the declaration of a national emergency. senator mitch mcconnell, the republican leader, had been opposed to this idea and talked about that publicly. but understanding that the white house was going to need his signoff in order to get this thing through, mcconnell changed his position. listen. he s prepared to sign the bill. he will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. and i ve indicated to him that i m going prepare i m going to support the national emergency declaration. reporter: now, there are some republican senators who are opposed to this idea, marco rubio, susan collins, some others are who are afraid that when a democratic president gets in he can turn the tables by declaring some emergency that republicans don t like. there s also, of course, the possibility that the united states congress with a vote of both the house as well as the senate can essentially rescind the declaration of a national
we, the senate, are waiting in our duty to stop this lawless administration and it s unconstitutional amnesty. immigration reform is an emotional and divisive issue. there s no doubt about that. but the president s unilateral actions to bypass congress, undermine the constitution and threaten our democracy. lawless administration, unconstitutional, doug, what has happened to that sentiment? i remember this not just from the videotape but quite often i d help draft the statements whether at the republican national committee or working in house leadership for then majority leader canner. and what we ve seen over the past few years in politics is that tribalism rules the day and it s okay if my side does it. what i would caution my republican friends on is remember what mitch mcconnell said to harry reid when he went with the nuclear option.
appropriations process we don t get to the place where we have these kinds of emergency declarations and so forth. it s not the sexiest thing in the world. it s congress doing its job and stepping back from separation of powers time and time again. one last note because donald trump used to feel this way, very strongly, he, as a deal maker, would never have to rely on the executive overreach that president obama did. here was his tweet. republicans must not allow president obama to subvert the constitution of the u.s. for his own benefit and because is he unable to negotiate with congress. i just leave you on that note. is that the same guy that s president now? it actually is, we fact checked that. all right. thank you all. breaking news, a top u.s. general leading the war against isis in syria is publicly breaking with president trump. this is a major deal. you almost never hear an active duty commander splitting with the president in public.
some of these statements and send them to you and alisyn that we ve done a total 180 on this. and, again, be careful what you wish for. this may feel good right now. although to a lot of senators and house members on the republican side it doesn t, especially given that the criticisms that have come from the democrats really are almost buttresses to argue for the bill and not to do the emergency move. this will have implications once there s not a republican president that republicans will not like. is there a particular word you were thinking of? i think the word is hypocrite. he didn t say it outloud. i was too busy banging my head against the wall. is there a difference between president obama did with executive action and an emergency declaration legally? there is. there s an enormous difference. the president does have authority though issue executive orders and they do that. an emergency declaration is basically circumventing the funding that has been decided by congres