Border Security

That whole “only obey the laws I agree with” thing really got a huge push when the California Attorney General refused to defend the pro-marriage referendum (that the California voters affirmed) when it worked its way up to SCOTUS.  I was embarrassed to be from there (but not too embarrassed, I AM living in Illinois,, after all), and outraged that your ELECTED Attorney General refused to do his job because he didn’t agree with Pro-marriage.  AND, to make matters worse, you lunatic Governor applauded him!

The answer to both those questions seems self-evident. Two Boeing 737 Max 8's have crashed in the last five months for reasons that remained unexplained, but with a serious potential cause being software errors that cause them to go into steep dives. With 350 of them in service, and each carrying about 180 passengers and crew, that's over 60,000 people at risk of death, with about half of them on American carriers.

If this doesn't qualify as an "emergency", immediately grounding them until the root cause(s) are determined and preventing additional crashes and deaths are strongly indicated. Several thousand Latin Americans trying to cross our southern border with measures already in place to stop them hardly seems in the same league as a potential threat or "emergency".

I don't disagree with the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8's. 60,000 lives at risk is pretty darned important.

And just in the past five years there's been roughly 170,000 actual deaths in the U.S. attributed to opiod overdoses, much of which is attributed to heroin or fentanyl coming from Mexico. Sounds like a big problem. Add to that the humanitarian problems cause by illegal crossings, human trafficking, sexual assault of migrants, crime committed by illegal immigrants in the U.S., the cost to law enforcement, infrastructure, and social services.....and it sounds like an "emergency" to me. 

If the pace of the last several months keeps up, we're looking at upwards of 500,000+ illegal crossings over a 12-month period. Any legal and ethical measure necessary to combat both of these problems has my full support.

Fix the Boeings!

Fix the border!

You say Beto, I say VETO! 

Trump sends rebuke to all 47 Senate Democrats and the 12 navel-gazing Senate Republicans who voted to place obstacles in the way of border security. The absolute best part of today's veto was Attorney General William Barr laying out the legal foundation for Trump emergency declaration.
Among the President's words:

Last month alone, CBP apprehended more than 76,000 aliens improperly attempting to enter the United States along the southern border — the largest monthly total in the last 5 years. In fiscal year 2018, CBP seized more than 820,000 pounds of drugs at our southern border, including 24,000 pounds of cocaine, 64,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 5,000 pounds of heroin, and 1,800 pounds of fentanyl.

In fiscal years 2017 and 2018, immigration officers nationwide made 266,000 arrests of aliens previously charged with or convicted of crimes. These crimes included approximately 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings. In other words, aliens coming across our border have injured or killed thousands of people, while drugs flowing through the border have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.

I understand your concern, but also bear in mind what is happening with THIS executive order:  Some in congress oppose it, and those are remonstrating against it.

my point is, this might or might not be setting a precedent (my opinion, it is not), but we do still have those checks and balances.

now, the GOOD part of Congress trying to shut down the president this time, is now we know who the RINO’s are.  I have to admit, I am surprised to find Lamar Alexander on that list.  I voted for him in the primary some years back.

Credo - I don't think the argument is whether he has the right to do it. The question remains...is this the right thing to do (using the Emergency Declarations because he couldn't get support through normal / will of the people means)?

I remember feeling violated the way Obamacare was passed on Christmas Eve, followed by the reconciliation shenanigans that I somewhat understand. This will have the same flavor.

This congress has lost sight of why they are there in the first place: To represent the will of the people.

for years, or decades, Congress has pursued their own will (amass greater power, do the bidding of their handlers-which is to say, whomever has the money, and get re-elected).  The will of the people, by and large, is to stop illegal immigration, but congress (both parties) has steadfastly refused to do,anything about it:  The simplistic explanation is, the democrats want the illegal and/or the minority vote and the republicans are afraid, if they do something meaningful, it can be used against them. 

So, along comes a president who, despite all of his personal failings, understands and promised to further the will of the people.  While we can argue and discuss his method (building a wall, turning people back at the border, building detention centers...) we cannot deny his intent.

congress, unwilling to act, is now in a position to support that intent (which frustrates them that the president IS doing something where they would not), or try to wrest the job THEY ARE UNWILLING TO DO away from the President.

given all this, I do not support the use of the Emergency Declaration in this regard, but I DO support someone, in this case, the President doing something to stem the flow of illegals into this country.  A side benefit I see is, the frustration this causes those self-righteous, puffed up stuffed shirts in congress.