WASHINGTON (AP) One by one, the Republican senators floated their ideas. They were trying to find a way out of a seemingly impossible dilemma: how to support President Donald Trumps U.S.-Mexico border wall without approving the national emergency declaration he invoked to build it.
And one by one, during a private lunchtime meeting that ran hot at times, they found no easy answers.
As a deadline for voting looms, its increasingly clear that Republican senators are deeply uncomfortable with Trumps use of executive power to build the wall and desperate to devise a way around the vote.
Senators know whatever they decide will make history. Its the first time Congress is voting to terminate a national emergency. Even if Trump vetoes the measure, as expected, it will set precedent for other money grabs by future occupants of the White House.
This is why they tried to talk Trump out of invoking national emergency powers and why theyre now in a no-win situation as they prepare to vote.
People are caught between the need for border security and agreeing with what the presidents trying to do but not how hes trying to do it, said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior-most Republican senator.
In the days ahead, senators will be required to vote on a resolution, already approved by Democrats in the House, to terminate Trumps executive action.
Senate Republicans dont have the votes to stop what Trump is doing, nor do they necessarily want to. Many of their constituents want the wall, and senators, especially those up for re-election in 2020, dont want to run afoul of the president whose supporters theyll need.
But theyre trying at least to provide some distance between Trumps effort to build the wall and what many see as executive overreach that could echo for years to come.
Trump, in a speech Saturday to conservatives, said: A lot of people talk about precedent, precedent, that if we do this the Democrats will use national emergency powers for something we dont want. They are going to do that anyway folks. The best way to stop that is to make sure I win the election.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, presented colleagues during the lunchtime meeting with a proposal to revisit the 1976 National Emergencies Act, clawing back some of the authority Congress ceded decades ago that paved the way for Trumps action.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has been working on a plan suggesting Trump could do away with his declaration completely by simply repurposing existing money to build the wall rather than invoking the emergency orders to take more dollars.
Other senators are swapping other ideas.
This has been a little bit of a wake-up call, said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the GOP leadership.
Cornyn said most lawmakers were simply not aware that Congress over the years has been so willing to delegate our authority to the president. I wouldnt be surprised if some changes are made, he said.
