Sorry, that's a cop-out. Even if one thinks the emergency declaration is technically legal -- and that is a point of debate among legal scholars -- the law also provides Congress a mechanism to terminate an emergency declaration that it deems inappropriate. Why would any Republican not vote to use the express authority Congress granted itself under the law to do so?

Some Republicans are talking about amending the National Emergencies Act to have all emergencies end automatically in 30 days unless Congress votes affirmatively to extend the emergency -- shifting power back from the executive to Congress. Fair enough. But up until now, such a law has not been necessary, because no president has abused his powers under the National Emergencies Act.

Almost all of the 59 previous emergency declarations have been to impose sanctions or trade restrictions on terrorists or other enemies. In the more than four decades since the act was passed, only twice has an emergency declaration been used to reallocate funds -- and both instances were to carry out wartime construction projects, one related to the 1991 Persian Gulf War and one related to military response following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. So, it was not until Trump's unprecedented abuse of the act that a constitutional crisis emerged.