Partisan judges put U.S. in danger

In an interview two weeks ago, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said that if people knew what he knows about terrorism, they would “never leave the house in the morning.”

Since 1980, 44 travel bans have been instituted by Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama — all for the expressed purpose of keeping the homeland safe.

President Trump’s ban is broader, but it is the first where the judicial branch has ruled against the executive branch.

When Obama instituted his first of six travel bans in 2011, he cited the same legal justification as his predecessors: the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Section 212(f ) of that law states: “Whenever the president finds that the entry of aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, the president may, by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or non-immigrants or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”

Factions of our judicial branch have gone out of their way to override our chief executive based on partisan politics, not precedent. The battle over the proposed travel ban isn’t about unscreened travel from Muslim-majority nations; it’s about liberal activist judges and their partisan agenda for America’s national security policy.

Voters didn’t elect Donald Trump to passively defend the status quo that fails to keep America safe. We must applaud President Trump’s courage to act in the face of adversity within his first 100 days. He has held his ground to protect our great nation.

We have to ask ourselves, what is more dangerous to the Constitution? A chief executive invoking executive powers used 44 times by a bipartisan list of presidents without legal challenge? Or judges who use the power of the bench to enact a partisan political agenda?

You tell me.

Ed Rollins is national cochair and chief strategist for Great America PAC, a proTrump Super PAC.