Page 7 - Functioning Congress News Today

In this case we have a law that congress passed that does give the president some significant authority on top of his constitutional authority to declare an emergency. but im going to take a long hard look at what the executive branch does. im going to be honest with you. i havent seen it yet. i have a constitutional duty to review and that make sure whatever they do is within the four corners of the law and i i tend zo that. >> are you uncomcomfortable with the use of executive power here? >> i...

Precedent-setting day, and also according to some, a dangerous day. donald trump, mike pence, mitch mcconnell, scores above the republicans have all expressed horror at the notion of a president going around congress on immigration. but today, president trump is going around congress on immigration. the president expected to declare a national emergency to reallocate billions of dollars to fund his proposed border wall. the constitution gives congress the power to appropriate money, but congress...

Jobs and spend the money on firehouses or something. they say it all the time whether it makes sense or not. in this case, the company said they were affected by it, didnt like it, didnt want to argue, go through the process and the inevitable lawsuits they would have had to. somebody should have prepared them for what they were coming into. they decided to walk away. >> watch a yankees or a mets game and you will know new york city isnt all rainbows and unicorns getting things done but there is...

Fighters will take back the last isis enclave in southern syria in the coming days. there has been additional progress since the presidents december decision was announced to withdraw u.s. troops. but votel, you know, making it clear he disagreed but he is moving ahead. he is a serving four-star general, he obeys the commander and chief, there is no question about that. he is bringing all u.s. troops out of syria. >> barbara starr. >> reporter: alisyn, john. >> a remarkable airing of a public di...

Unraveling. as yesterday morning president trump wasnt going to sign it. he had decided hed heard enough criticism about this bipartisan deal that he didnt like it and mitch mcconnell had to call him three times to try to spin it whereby it could -- the narrative could somehow be that democrats lost, that the president won and democrats lost and thats when mitch mcconnell decided that he would encourage the president to try to find $8 billion in some other pot that i guess is lying around somewh...

Large number where theres been an effort under the national emergencys act for the president to operate. that does happen and the question here is do we have a critical nexus for car tells that are engaged in reaching up into our communities and moving fentanyl across the border endaith dangering american citizens. does the president able to do it? i think all members of congress regardless of party ought do that. i think we ought to be careful about it but we ought to be cognizant that we do ha...

Diplomacy, now its social media whining, the other way do it and effective and the way i used most often was control over reprogramming dollars. so if congress gives up this ability to control that, they will lose an important oversight function. and im a big believer in that separate but equal branch of government. not every administration gets it right. republican or democrat. this is a huge federal government. it needs a functioning congress. i argue that they ought to be as angry as anything...

That you can keep the government open, you have to basically be on my side on the national emergency. and so this -- this 180 degree whipsaw that you saw that the majority leader engaged in yesterday was really quite remarkable. and i think it speaks more to the current relationship between the president and the majority leader of the senate. >> up until very recently, about a month ago you were a moderate democrat in congress. and it seems like the democratic party has shifted just in that shor...

That. its a profound issue of american governance, who controls the purse? who decides how money should be spent? if there was a republican party instead of just a trump party, this would be an issue they would be interested in. but it is no longer a republican party and so they are going to fall in line. mitch mcconnell first in line and well see what the courts do. >> mike rogers, explain that. explain how republicans very recently used to go ballistic about what they perceived as executive ov...

For him to be so cavalier about it, again it goes to underline what i talked about at the beginning of the show, the selective outrage from trump and from his supporters, and from republicans in congress as well. you know, why not be consistent. so if youre not consistent on this, youre not credible about your criticism of hillary using the e-mails. thats how it works. >> is this going to be a big issue on capitol hill? how do you think -- are these rocks that will be overturned? >> sure. i gues...