“Bypass Congress”? Trump would be invoking statutes passed by Congress vesting to him power to declare a national emergency.
Obviously, that little loophole, the one that allows a president to abuse that power, has to be addressed. And yes, using that power to do an end run around Congress for raw political reasons was never the intent of Congress. They simply never envisioned a president who would so blatantly use the authority to simply forward his political agenda.
Congress must rein in the presidency. Ever since the turn of the 20th century, little by little, Congress and the courts have been ceding their authority and their responsibilities to the president, and presidents have eagerly lapped up the benefits for themselves and their agendas.
First, Trump basically said "Gimmie $5 billion for my wall or I will destroy 800,000 Americans lives." That is the negotiating style of a terrorist, and people recognized it for what it was. The peoples' representatives, led by Nancy Pelosi, refused to negotiate with him while he held the federal employees hostage.
As soon as the government was temporarily reopened, Trump was right back at the mic declaring "I'll get my wall!"
No, he won't.
He can either start pretending to be an adult, treat his office with the respect it deserves, and quit throwing temper tantrums, or he can pretty much figure that Pelosi and co. are going to make the second half of his term completely impotent. The choice is up to him.
Right now the question is, will the courts declare that the president does have the authority to advance his political agenda by falsely declaring an national emergency. Perhaps we will find out.
