Posted on 01/18/2017 10:15:47 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday that it is possible President-elect Donald Trump will use executive action in his first days in office to secure the border with Mexico.
The comment from Pence comes days after Trump said that on Monday, which he considers his first day in office, he would sign an executive order covering “strong borders.”
Pence told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview that the Trump administration is looking to sign executive orders and repeal those enacted by President Barack Obama in order to implement the new president’s agenda.
Todd asked Pence about Trump’s comment that he would sign an order regarding “secure borders.” The vice president-elect said that Congress and him have been “looking at existing legislation and existing funds” to put Trump’s promise to quickly build a border wall “into practice.”
Pence added that it is “possible” that the Trump administration starts on building a wall before Congress passes a law, but that they are “flushing that out right now.”
The Secure Fences Act of 2006 authorized the Department of Homeland Security to build nearly 700 miles of double-layered fencing on the Mexican border. Currently 36 miles of that fencing has been built.
Politifact reported that the Secure Fence Act and other existing laws give the secretary of homeland security broad powers when it comes to securing the border, so that construction wouldn’t be limited to a double-layered fence.
sell bricks for ten dollars each to pay for it.
Snarling, nasty dogs would add a nice touch. EO them too!
Why not? Obama used executive power to virtually destroy border enforcement.
At the same time, he supported sanctuary cities that violated Federal immigration law while simultaneously taking Arizona to court for trying to enforce it!
“Remember, it’s not like Bush/McCain/Romney winning, where they run over to the Democrat side and beg to be treated nice...it’s different with Trump.”
And the Democrats keep trying to demonize him, which will be a constant reminder to Trump not to even TRY expecting to be treated nice no matter WHAT he does.
Those are orders affecting teh executive branch, perfectly legal.
Orders such as Obama’s DACA order, which rewrite statutory law, are not constitutionally permitted, therefore not legal. Similarly, Trump can’t just order the wall built. He’ll need statutory authorization from Congress, along with the appropriation.
It’s not enough that his executive orders will be better ones than Obama’s (which they will.) It’s that there are limits on the power of the executive, and this seems to exceed those limits.
But, as others have said, the law is already on the books to build the wall.
The Secure Fences Act of 2006 authorized the Department of Homeland Security to build nearly 700 miles of double-layered fencing on the Mexican border.
That's enough for President Trump to enact an executive order to act on the existing law, a law that has been ignored by the jerkwad outgoing president. Going beyond that law can happen later, with a request to Congress to create a stronger wall.
He’ll need an appropriation for the costs.
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