Wall Street Journal editorial: Conservatives 'could live to regret' Trump emergency declaration

BY JOHN BOWDEN - 01/11/19 08:07 AM EST

Editors at The Wall Street Journal warned Friday that Republicans could end up with regrets if President Trump declares a national emergency to get his funding for a border wall, warning that Democrats could then use the measure "whenever it is politically expedient."

In an editorial, the conservative newspaper's staff warned that such a decision would likely open the door to future use of national emergency declarations by Democrats, including on issues such as gun violence and climate change.

"If Mr. Trump did win in court, a President Elizabeth Warren might take the precedent as license to circumvent Congress whenever it is politically expedient," the editorial warned. "Rising carbon emissions or even income inequality could be declared national emergencies."

The newspaper went on to argue that Trump would be on sounder legal footing than his predecessor, former President Obama, was when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was implemented by executive order, but that the president should not use a national emergency to fulfill a "campaign promise."

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https://thehill.com/homenews/media/424877-wall-street-journal-editorial-conservatives-could-live-to-regret-trump