With a mix of lies and deceit, President Donald Trump continues to routinely invoke national emergency on almost everything and everyone that walks on the planet. Since the government doesn't ask the 45th president of the United States to put limits on his authority, he also feels no pressure to do so.

Make no mistake: in this case, and many others, there's still a rub. The political class in Washington can and should begin contemplating how to ditch Trump's emergency powers and routine executive authority, and how to hold the sitting president accountable under the U.S. Constitution.

For this to happen, there is strong evidence that last year Trump acted entirely outside the law and norms of the World Trade Organization (WTO) when he declared a state of emergency to impose tariffs on Chinese imports.

The next pitstop on the race of absurdity was this year when Trump used the same emergency authority on May 31 to claim there's a migration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. He intentionally did that to divert congressional funds to build his “beautiful” border wall and impose tariffs on Mexican imports. 

This is while he knew there's no urgent crisis on the Mexican border, and certainly, no legal basis to abuse his emergency powers, bypass the usual political process and impose tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump abused his powers and the time to strip him of his extraordinary authority is now.

Congress could start the process by blocking his fake national emergencies involving China and Mexico. Under a clause in the National Emergencies Act, lawmakers can simply terminate Trump's emergency declarations with a new resolution. For this to happen, both houses need to agree – provided Trump does not make an end run around Congress to veto. However, since many politicians on both sides of the aisle are against trade wars and believe there's no need to invoke Trump's untrue emergencies, a supermajority could overturn his veto.

Think Australia, India, Germany, South Korea and Japan. These are exactly the type of no-win, untrue emergencies and face-saving crises that Trump is also increasingly obsessed with invoking under the National Emergencies Act. These are also the type of controversial trade-war quagmires that the overwhelming majority in the legislative branch wants to flee. There should be no such statute that the “tariff man” could rely upon to violate that norm of self-restraint and thwart the will of Congress and American people.

Here, Congress should realize that Trump has been, and still is, acting outside the fundamental norms of the law. The man is not what he claims he is; he is what he hides. The legislative body can vote and should vote to terminate his untrue emergencies that are only there to deliver votes to his campaign in the 2020 elections. Under the law, Congress can meet every six months if an emergency is still in effect to consider whether it should continue. It's been more than a year since Trump imposed an unnecessary trade war on China.

The argument for this position, this civic and legal duty, is based on the fact that Trump's destructive authority is essentially not subject to Congressional limitation, a reality that lengthens his trade war. He is increasingly keen on preparing to use the same authority to impose tariffs on other countries, even if their counteroffensives could hurt the U.S. economy or cause mass migration from Central America into the U.S. 

On all accounts, there's still a way out of Trump's trade-war quagmires, and that is for both houses in Congress to make an amendment to the Constitution that limits the president's authority in emergency declarations. Surely, it would be a drawn-out process with procedural blockades, but it's worth their while and far better than getting bogged down in trade-war quagmires. 

Here is the dark side to it all: Trade war is a quagmire. Trump's new emergencies will do what prior emergencies have done: Cause further destabilization in the global economy and financial markets. No matter how much Trump and his followers may wish otherwise, trade wars fail with ominous consequences for everyone. 

The big picture remains the same: There's still the law of the Constitution to follow and lawmakers are required to perform their constitutional duties. They must realize that there is no trade-war solution to America's trade deficits and economic woes. While quite literally nothing can stop trade wars, nothing can make them victorious either. Diplomacy and common sense must take center stage, and that is constructive engagement with China and Mexico.