What happens if Trump declares a state of emergency?

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday stopped short of declaring a national emergency in his televised speech on what he said was a migrant crisis. Vice President Mike Pence told the press that the White House was seriously considering such an option.

This was not the first time President Trump has threatened to activate an emergency.

But what will happen if he does pull the trigger?

One sure thing is that the president will be able to set aside many of the legal limitations on his power.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, during a national emergency, the president has a lot of exceptional powers at his disposal, thanks to 123 statutory provisions. Specifically speaking, the president will be entitled to control Internet traffic, freeze assets or even deploy troops to "restore order."

It's important to note the president can basically announce a national emergency at his will. Over the years, Congress has been trying to limit what a president can do at such a time. But in fact, once the state of emergency begins, neither Congress nor the courts can do much to rein in the president.

Newly-elected Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks during the 116th Congress on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, DC, January 3, 2019./VCG Photo

Misuse of such a power is rare in U.S. history, but it did happen. During WWII, former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent more than 110,000 people of Japanese descent, mostly U.S. citizens, to internment camps. And in the wake of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, former U.S. President George W. Bush unilaterally ordered wiretapping and torture in investigations.

In both cases, the so-called mechanism unfortunately failed to respond to the abuse of powers.