Sen. Rounds gives update on U.S. Senate activity
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HURON – Although both the Senate and the House have passed a non-binding resolution disapproving of President Trump’s declaration of an emergency at the Mexican border, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., voted no, saying a 1976 law gives the executive branch access to the funds he wants to tap to build a wall.
“He used the tool that was available,” he said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. “He truly believes there’s a real emergency at the southern border.”
However, 12 Senate Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the order, with some arguing that the declaration violates the U.S. Constitution. Some said it was a dangerous precedent that opens the door for future presidents to declare other emergencies.
While that 43-year-old law gives the president the authority, it’s something that should be revisited because it has no definition of what constitutes a national emergency and leaves it up to the chief executive with no guidance, Rounds said.
With the law, Congress gave part of the purse strings to the executive branch, but he said it’s not something that today’s legislative branch believes is still appropriate.
Tens of thousands of people are coming across the border every month, and it is overwhelming border agents to the point where they aren’t able to keep up with illegal drugs entering the country, Rounds said. Other senators who voted against the resolution agreed with Rounds that there is an emergency at the border.