Trump Does Have the Authority to Invoke the Insurrection Act [WATCH]

Turley says Trump can do it.

During Thursday night’s Hannity, legal scholar Jonathan Turley affirmed President Trump’s authority to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act amid violent anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, citing its broad wording to enforce federal laws when local officials resist, as seen in Eisenhower’s 1957 deployment against Arkansas segregationists.

“If you’re asking the question of does he have the authority to invoke it… I think he does,” Turley said. “The Insurrection Act is very generally worded… and allows a president to call out military force in order to enforce the laws of the United States. That was done by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy in very similar circumstances.”

“In those circumstances, you had local officials, including governors, who were extremely aggressive and anti-federal government, saying they would not assist any enforcement of civil rights laws. These are obviously different laws; these are the immigration laws, but both are laws of the United States. And you have a governor here and a mayor who been fueling the rage, telling people that they’re under attack,” Turley added.

“You have Democratic senators just as weak, saying democracy might not last till November. All of that’s creating this very volatile situation. Under the Insurrection Act, the president has significant authority. What it gives the president is essentially a way around the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents him from using the military domestically. But the Insurrection Act removes that barrier and allows him to call out troops, as did Eisenhower and Kennedy.”

Watch the clip above.