Category : Blogs

Sub Category : Politics

The U.S. Constitution does not directly authorize a President to issue Executive Orders. However, this implied & accepted power derives from Article II of the Constitution, which states that the President "shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed".
With an Executive Order, the President instructs the gov't how to WORK WITHIN THE PARAMETERS ALREADY SET BY CONGRESS & THE CONSTITUTION. In effect, this allows the President to enable policy changes without going through Congress. An Executive Order DOES NOT create a new law nor appropriate any funds, as only Congress has the power to do both of these things. In his first two years, tRump issued 95 Executive Orders. Obama issued 276 over eight years, G.W. Bush 291 over eight years, Clinton 364 over eight years, G.H.W. Bush 166 over four years, Reagan 381 over eight years.
In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act. 59 National Emergencies have been declared over the years. Examples are Bush's post 9-11 Declaration & Obama's H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemic Declaration which allowed for waivers of some Medicare & Medicaid regulations. Essentially, Presidential Emergency Powers were conceived as a way to give the President the ability to act when Congress didn't have time to. In the case of tRump's border wall, Congress had plenty of time but chose not to fund it. tRump illegally wants to go around the will of Congress and violate the intent of the National Emergencies Act. It will not stand.