Schiff: ‘Hard to imagine a poorer case’ than Trump’s on emergency declaration

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in an interview Sunday that President Trump has a poor case in court on his emergency declaration at the border.

Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Congress explicitly rejected funding for Trump’s wall on the Mexican border in passing a measure last week that provided just $1.375 billion in funds for border barriers.

And he said Trump hurt his own case further by saying he didn’t really need to declare an emergency at the border. 

{mosads}”And in saying just the other day that he didn’t really need to do this. He just wanted to do it because it would help things go faster. He’s pretty much daring the court to strike this down,” Schiff told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

“So it’s hard to imagine a poorer case but I’ll say this Dana,” Schiff added.

He then said GOP lawmakers should oppose Trump, arguing the president was going too far in extending executive powers.

“It’s going to be a real test for my GOP colleagues in Congress and their devotion to this institution,” Schiff said. 

Schiff said there will be “little check and no balance left” if Congress surrenders the power of the purse.

“It will not be a separation of powers any more, just a separation of parties,” he said.

“So this is going to be a moment of truth for my GOP colleagues.”

Democrat @RepAdamSchiff on why he said Trump’s national emergency is “unconstitutional”: “If we give away, if we surrender the power of the purse … there will be little check and no balance left. It’ll not be a separation of powers anymore, just a separation of parties” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/R1ghj3S84w

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) February 17, 2019

Trump last Friday declared a national emergency to allocate nearly $8 billion for construction of his long-promised border wall.

Trump acknowledged during remarks in the Rose Garden that the declaration would likely face legal challenges.

“We will possibly get a bad ruling, and then we’ll get another bad ruling and then we’ll end up in the Supreme Court,” Trump said, adding he believes his administration would prevail at the high court.

He also said at one point that he did not need to do the declaration.

“I didn’t need to do this,” Trump said. “But I’d rather do it much faster.”