Categories: Government

National Emergency Powers, Updated September 18, 2001

Background

The President of the United States has available certain powers that may be exercised in the event that the nation is threatened by crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances (other than natural disasters, war, or near-war situations). Such powers may be stated explicitly or implied by the Constitution, assumed by the Chief Executive to be permissible constitutionally, or inferred from or specified by statute. Through legislation, Congress has made a great many delegations of authority in this regard over the past 200 years.

There are, however, limits and restraints upon the President in his exercise of emergency powers. With the exception of the habeas corpus clause, the Constitution makes no allowance for the suspension of any of its provisions during a national emergency. Disputes over the constitutionality or legality of the exercise of emergency powers are judicially reviewable. Indeed, both the judiciary and Congress, as co-equal branches, can restrain the executive regarding emergency powers. So can public opinion. Furthermore, since 1976, the President has been subject to certain procedural formalities in utilizing some statutorily delegated emergency authority. The National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601-1651) eliminated or modified some statutory grants of emergency authority, required the President to declare formally the existence of a national emergency and to specify what statutory authority, activated by the declaration, would be used, and provided Congress a means to countermand the President’s declaration and the activated authority being sought. The development of this regulatory statute and subsequent declarations of national emergency are reviewed in this report, which is updated as events require.

Document Archive

National Emergency Powers, Updated September 18, 2001 [25 Pages, 0.3MB]

Continue scrolling for more...

 

 

Follow The Black Vault on Social Media:

This post was published on November 20, 2020 1:14 pm

John Greenewald

Recent Posts

FBI Files: American Military

Welcome to the FBI Files on American Military Personnel archive at The Black Vault. This…

July 4, 2025

FBI Files: Directors, Agents and Personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Background The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National…

July 4, 2025

Private/Unlisted YouTube Videos of U.S. Government Agencies

Background Many U.S. government agencies and military branches have public YouTube pages. That is no…

July 3, 2025

FOIA Response Reveals Contact Between AARO and Enigma Labs; Details Remain Largely Redacted

In a new batch of documents obtained by The Black Vault, the Department of Defense…

July 3, 2025

FBI Files: Civil Rights Era

Background Movements for civil rights were a worldwide series of political movements for equality before…

July 1, 2025

FBI Files: Historical Figures & Groups

Background Welcome to the FBI Files on Historical Figures & Groups archive at The Black…

June 26, 2025