This is the first time an organization has applied to display a Nativity scene, or crèche, he said.

The question arises of whether a display of its kind in the Capitol is a violation of the concept of separation of church and state. That phrase does not appear in the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers said the display was one of the worst things he has seen happen while a member of the Legislature. It is especially abhorrent because lawyers are doing it, he said. Not one of them could give a cogent argument justifying the placing of a Christian icon in the Rotunda, he said.

"Except for the fact that I am a man who believes in using legal processes to address inappropriate use of state facilities, I would dismantle it and remove it myself," he said.

There's nothing the Thomas More Society could do about that because they have no right to bring it to the Capitol and no property interest in the building, he said, so it would be interesting to raise the issue in that fashion.

"But there are different and better ways perhaps to do it," he said.