ABSTRACT
President Donald Trump proclaimed a state of national emergency on the southern United States (US) border in February 2019. This marked a new stage in both the assertion of presidential executive power and the domestic use of troops against civilians. Trump declared the emergency specifically in order to mobilise the military to build a wall along the US–Mexico border, having already deployed troops to prevent refugees from entering the country. President Trump’s dispatch of troops to the US–Mexico border was not, however, completely unprecedented. Through the 1776 Revolution, the people of the United States took the lead in enunciating opposition to military interference in civil affairs. President Trump’s Fourth of July display was unprecedented, but built upon a growing trend. The Supreme Court has made it clear that the president does not require express Congressional or statutory authorisation to exercise such powers.
