“He is usurping congressional authority,” Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a veteran member of the Appropriations Committee, said in an interview. Four Republicans might be enough to join with Senate Democrats and pass legislation rebuking the president, and leadership aides put the number of potential defectors as high as 10. But the unrest seemed well short of the sort of partywide revolt necessary to override a veto by Mr. Trump of any legislative attempt to prevent his declaration of an emergency, leaving a legal challenge as the only recourse. “He’s got the power to defend the country, to defend the borders, to protect the people as commander in chief. Mr. Trump exerts a powerful hold on his party, and lawmakers are cowed by the belief that opposing him will end in their political destruction.

Source: New York Times February 16, 2019 16:07 UTC