Vice President Mike Pence once condemned the declaration of a national emergency in the face of congressional opposition, it has emerged.
As President Donald Trump continues to threaten declaring national emergency over funding for his wall, Pence criticized the attempt by former president, Barack Obama, to do the same thing during a quarrel over immigration reform.
Read more: The shutdown crisis is far worse than either party realizes
Back then, Obama issued an executive order to stop five million immigrants from being deported, after facing opposition from the Republicans who at the time controlled Congress and the Senate.
Pence, who was then the governor of Indiana, said the Obama's actions were "not leadership" which, he argued, could only come with "finding common ground," USA Today reported.
"I believe that issues of this magnitude should always be resolved with the consent of the governed," Pence said in 2014 on a Republican Governors Association panel.
"Signing an executive order, giving a speech, barnstorming around the country defending that executive order is not leadership, the likes of which we practice every day. I would implore the president to reconsider this path," he said.
Obama faced fierce criticism from Republicans for acting unilaterally, and saw his plan rejected by the Supreme Court in 2016.
But this week Pence continued to defend any prospective unilateral action by Trump, who, he said, had "an absolute right to declare a national emergency."
Pence's press secretary Alyssa Farah told USA Today in a statement that the Democrats had refused to negotiate and are "holding the government hostage."
"As the Vice President said in 2014, and countless times during this current shutdown, House and Senate Democrats must be willing to negotiate a solution for the American people," Farah said.
Trump is taking legal advice over how he might declare a national emergency and use it to divert funds to meet the $5.7 billion that he seeks for the border wall.
The White House is looking to use money in the Army Corps of Engineers budget and a disaster spending bill that includes $13.9 billion allocated for civil works projects to meet the cost of the wall, NBC News reported.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that lawmakers from both parties are bracing themselves for the declaration with the Democrats looking at their options on how to respond.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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