Joaquin Castro: “About 6 weeks ago, when the rumors began that the President might declare a national emergency to build his border wall…”

“About 6 weeks ago, when the rumors began that the President might declare a national emergency to build his border wall, my staff and I began working with legislative counsel to make sure that Congress would have a say in what amounts to constitutional cannibalism by the President. This is the most consequential vote we will take in a generation on the balance of powers between the legislative and the executive branches of government, whether we will respect the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution, stand up for Congress, for this country, and for the Constitution, or whether we will stand down, in favor of the President. The precedent that may be set today and this week, or next week when the Senate votes if Congress allows this President's emergency declaration to stand will not have ramifications only on this matter or the building of a border wall. If the President is successful, he will likely come back for more. He will likely circumvent Congress again, in the same unconstitutional way. Not only will this President do it, future Presidents will do it. I ask you this: How are we to tell a future President, if this President is successful, that gun deaths, which number in the tens of thousands, are not a national emergency, that opioid deaths are not a national emergency, that climate change is not a national emergency? This will allow a President to sideline Congress from much of domestic policy.…”