Congress is poised to block President Trump‘s national emergency declaration, paving the way for the first veto showdown with Trump’s White House.
The collision course was set when Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) became the fourth GOP senator to say he would vote against Trump’s declaration to fund the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Paul, speaking in Kentucky over the weekend, said he couldn’t support giving a president “extra-constitutional powers.”
“I can’t vote to give the president the power to spend money that hasn’t been appropriated by Congress. We may want more money for border security, but Congress didn’t authorize it. If we take away those checks and balances, it’s a dangerous thing,” he said, according to the Bowling Green Daily News.
Paul is the crucial fourth Republican vote needed to pass a resolution blocking Trump’s declaration in the Senate, an embarrassing setback that would force the president to use his first veto of his White House tenure.
Trump’s emergency declaration has left Republicans in an untenable political bind. – READ MORE