Welcome
Chapter 15-Emergency PowersIn an updated Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report dated November 13, 2006 entitled “National Emergency Powers”, written by Harold C. Relyea, the opening paragraph states:
“The President of the United States has available certain powers that may be exercised in the event that the nation is threatened by crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances (other than natural disasters, war, or near-war situations). Such powers may be stated explicitly or implied by the Constitution, assumed by the Chief Executive to be permissible constitutionally, or inferred from or specified by statute. Through legislation, Congress has made a great many delegations of authority in this regard over the past 200 years”. (Bold Added)
In the first highlighted statement it says that the President has certain powers to deal with emergency circumstances, OTHER than natural disasters, war, or near-war situations. WHAT? I thought natural disasters, war, and near-war situations constituted a national threat, and at a minimum rose to the level of emergency, didn’t you? He goes on to say that the president may just assume he has constitutionally-granted powers; or may be granted power from statute, meaning it is enacted by Congress.
What happened to the Constitution? The Constitution created a government with three distinct branches with separate powers and limitations to ensure no one branch of government gained too much power. As we shall see in the upcoming pages, we no longer have three separate branches of government when it comes to emergency powers. We will look at the impact of these consolidated powers as it affects the American people.
