Rand Paul Gives Deciding Vote Against National Emergency Declaration

Senator Rand Paul signaled over the weekend his support of a measure aimed at blocking President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration, likely providing the vote the Senate needed to pass the resolution of disapproval.

“I can’t vote to give extraconstitutional powers to the President,” the Republican Senator said on Saturday. “I can’t vote to give the President the power to spend money that hasn’t been appropriated by Congress. We may want more money for border security, but Congress didn’t authorize it. If we take away those checks and balances, it’s a dangerous thing.”

The measure was introduced in the House where it passed last Tuesday with 13 Republicans siding with their Democratic colleagues. Democrats in the Senate need four GOP members to vote with them to pass the resolution in the chamber.

Along with Paul, Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have indicated they’ll vote in favor of the resolution, CNN writes.

If passed, the measure will then be sent to President Trump’s desk where he is expected to veto it as promised.

“We have too many smart people that want border security, so I can’t imagine it can survive a veto,” Trump said in February. “But I will veto it, yes.”

In such a scenario, Congress would need a two-thirds majority to overrule the President’s veto, which is unlikely.

Trump declared a national emergency last month, claiming there was a crisis at the southern border and maintaining his long-promised border wall had to be built to stop the “invasion” of drugs and undocumented immigrants.

Republicans, although supportive of border security, are concerned that Trump’s declaration sets a precedent for any future president to bypass Congress on any issue they deem fit.

It is unclear for now when the Senate will schedule the vote on the resolution. It has 18 days from the day the House approved the resolution on Tuesday. According to the chamber’s Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the vote will occur before a recess later this month.