'Not A Real Emergency': AG Ellison On Why Minn. Joined Suit Against Trump
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota has joined 15 other states in suing President Donald Trump over his declaration of a national emergency in order to fund his border wall.
The lawsuit was filed last night in federal court in California.
RELATED: Minnesota Joins Multi-State Lawsuit Over National Emergency
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says Minnesota joined the lawsuit because he believes the declaration of a national emergency is unconstitutional.
"We have a system of separation of powers, Congress has the power of the purse, they've allocated the money in an appropriate way. This is not a real emergency," explained Ellison. "For him to declare one just to solve a political crisis for himself is not right."
The Minnesota portion of the law says the President's declaration would result in the diversion of funds for Minnesota's National Guard, harming not only the guard, but Minnesota's economy.
The lawsuit says the diversion of funds would affect the Guard's ability to deploy in state emergencies and interfere with the Guard's drug interdiction efforts. Constitutional law professor David Schultz says the suit has a strong legal bias.
"To summarize it, the separation of powers that is a good strong argument that Minnesota is making along with several other states," Schultz said.
But Schultz says within the next few weeks, there will be a court hearing on the suit -- but the legal battle will be lengthy.
"I think this is going to be months -- if not years -- long process. During that time, you are never going to see any of that money spend on the border wall," Schultz added.
WCCO reached out to the Minnesota National Guard. They referred us to the national Guard Bureau in Arlington Virginia. WCCO did not hear back from them.
On Monday night, Gov. Tim Walz issued a statement saying he fully supports the state suing the President:
"The President's emergency declaration is a gross overstep of executive power, and I support Attorney General Keith Ellison's decision to join this lawsuit and protect Minnesotans."
