Warning
Info
Warning
Info
Simple English definitions for legal terms
emergency powers
Read a random definition: inter apices juris
A quick definition of emergency powers:
Emergency powers are special powers given to the President to act quickly in times of danger or crisis. These powers allow the President to do things like deploy troops or cut off communication in the country. The President can declare a national emergency using the National Emergencies Act, but they have to explain why they are doing it and tell Congress about any costs. The Constitution doesn't say anything about emergency powers, so the courts can't give the President these powers unless Congress has given them to them. There have been times in history when Presidents have used emergency powers, like when Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War or when Franklin Roosevelt put Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II.A more thorough explanation:
Emergency powers refer to the authority given to individuals in the executive branch to act outside of their usual authority in response to a danger that normal channels cannot address. The most important emergency powers are those given to the President through the National Emergencies Act. This act allows the President to declare a national emergency, which gives them a range of powers such as deploying troops or cutting off telecommunication in the country. There are over 120 statutory provisions that may be used by the President during a national emergency.
The Constitution does not expressly grant the President additional war powers or other powers in times of national emergency. However, many scholars think that the Framers implied these powers because the Executive Branch can act faster than the Legislative Branch. Nevertheless, the Judiciary cannot grant these powers to the Executive Branch when it tries to wield them because the Constitution remains silent on the issue. The courts will only recognize a right of the Executive Branch to use emergency powers if Congress has granted such powers to the President.
Presidents have claimed emergency powers at many pivotal points throughout United States history. For example, President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus without Congressional approval in 1861, claiming that the Confederate rebellion created an emergency that permitted him the extraordinary power of unilaterally suspending the writ. President Roosevelt invoked emergency powers when he issued Executive Order 9066 directing that all Japanese Americans residing on the West Coast be placed into internment camps during World War II. President Harry Truman declared the use of emergency powers in Executive Order 10340 when he seized private steel mills that failed to produce steel because of a labor strike in 1952.
The National Emergencies Act was enacted in 1976 in response to the continued existence of four declared national emergencies, the oldest of which had been in place for forty years. The Act enables the President to declare a national emergency and provides for a variety of termination methods, including the automatic termination of a national emergency upon its anniversary every year, if the President does not act to renew it.
Overall, emergency powers are a controversial topic because of the extent of the powers and the lack of express Constitutional grant. The extent of the Executive Branch's emergency powers has come under recent scrutiny.