national emergency is no longer an all-or-nothing situation. The Act provides that
when the President declares a national emergency, he must specify in the
declaration of subsequent execution orders which authorities he is invoking under
the national emergency. Thus, he does not simply declare an emergency and
automatically have all powers, which may be operative in times of national
emergency; rather, he must construct a set of national emergency powers,
selecting from those available during a Presidentially declared emergency.
Congress may terminate his declaration of national emergency at any time by
concurrent resolution and will review the declaration and situation every 6
months.
e. This means that, while declaring a national emergency remains an important
decision, it is no longer the all-out decision of major proportions that it was in the
past. We can now temporize and send small, incremental signals that may help
de-escalate a crisis or allow us to make certain necessary actions with a minimum
of provocation. For instance, after the hostage taking in Iran, the President
declared a national emergency for the sole purpose of freezing Iranian assets in
this country. The September 11th attacks also led to the declaration of a national
emergency, the largest since WWII.
f. Since the President specifies the authorities he will use when he declares a
national emergency, it would be more efficient to have him cite all those
authorities which will be needed in the immediately foreseeable future at the time
the emergency is initially declared. Accordingly, Defense advisers to the
President should consider the entire range of authorities available under a
Presidentially declared emergency and make appropriate recommendations
whenever it becomes necessary for the President to declare a national emergency.
In that way a piecemeal approach to Presidential authorities can be avoided and
time can be saved. Because it coordinates the emergency activities of the Federal
civil agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be included in
deliberations that might result in a recommendation for a declaration of a national
emergency.
g. Some enacted, but standby legislation requires a Congressionally declared
national emergency before it becomes effective in time of emergency. For
example, mobilization of the Standby Reserve and Recall of members of the
Retired Reserve must be preceded by the declaration of a national emergency or
war by the Congress. Unlike the case of a Presidentially declared national
emergency, it is not mandated by law that such a Congressional declaration
specify which authorities will be invoked under it or for what purposes it has been
declared.
LESSON ONE
PRACTICE EXERCISE
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