WHAT EXACTLY IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY?

In 1976, the US Congress passed the National Emergencies Act, which permits the president to pronounce a national emergency when he considers it appropriate. The act offers no specific definition of “emergency” and allows a president to declare one entirely at his or her discretion. By declaring a national emergency, the president avails himself or herself of dozens of specialised laws. Some of these powers have funds the president otherwise could not access. Under current law, emergency powers lapse within a year unless the president renews them. A national emergency can be redeclared indefinitely, and, in practice, that is done frequently. There have been 58 pronounced under the National Emergencies Act, of which 31 are still in effect.

When have they been declared in the past?

Presidents have declared national emergencies since the Second World War. President Bill Clinton declared emergencies 17 times, George W. Bush 12 and Barack Obama 13. The vast majority have been economic sanctions against foreign actors whose activities pose a national threat, according to Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Centre for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Programme. A handful of others have involved noneconomic crises:

Clinton declared a national emergency during the 1996 Cuba embargo, preventing US ships or aircraft from entering Cuban territory without authorisation. Obama declared a national emergency during the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic in 2009 to activate disaster plans to set up proper patient treatment. Bush declared a national emergency after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; the order is still in effect.

Is a national emergency the same thing as an executive order?

In general, national emergencies have been declared through executive orders. An executive order is a command issued by the president that carries the force of law. The power is authorised, in part, by Article II of the US Constitution.