You can't blame this on "paperwork" - any necessary documentation could be handled in good time, as circumstances permitted. All that was necessary was for Governor Blanco to call President Bush and say: "Mr. President, as Governor of Louisiana I hereby authorize and request that you provide federal National Guard assistance to Louisiana." That's it.
Lets not get stuck on semantics. What I meant with 'paperwork', apart from physical documents, is that the White House had the option of being the active communicator to acquire oral authorization when the call from Blanco never came!
The problem is that we are arguing here about legal responsibilities like a bunch of lawyers. The ultimate moral responsibility (in the eyes of the general public) in the face of natural disaster falls on the national government when those legally responsible don't act. Now, I don't necessarily agree with this notion that we should always except the government to come and save us. Individual initiative can do wonders. Look at the young man commandeering a school bus out of New Orleans and saving 70 people in the act!