Trump's Emergency Declaration

President Trump's declaration of a national emergency, so that he can divert funds allocated by Congress for a different purpose in order to build his great wall, is both factually fraudulent and an unconstitutional usurpation of Congressional authority. Unfortunately, because of a perfect storm in our political and judicial alignment, his deception and abuse of power is unlikely to be deterred or punished.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority made clear recently (the "Travel Ban" case) that it will defer to presidential judgment however unwise or factually insupportable. And the Republican majority in the Senate will never muster the two thirds vote required to convict the president for his abuse of power even if he is impeached by the House of Representatives. The only viable alternatives are public outrage and voter rejection.