Morning Joe: ‘If You Vote For This National Emergency, Never, Ever Raise The Constitution Again’

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough weighed in on the upcoming resolution of disapproval on President Donald Trump’s national emergency. The House is set to vote on reversing the state of emergency today, though it is not clear if enough Republican senators will break ranks for the resolution to pass.

Speaking to the Washington Post‘s Jennifer Rubin on Tuesday’s Morning Joe, Scarborough had harsh words for any Republicans considering a vote in favor of Trump’s state of emergency.

“You know, Jennifer, you and myself and other conservatives former Republicans … we’ve criticized Republicans so much for bowing down to Donald Trump,” Scarborough said. “But I do have to say, this is such a bright, obviously bright line to cross, that if you vote for this national emergency, never, ever raise the Constitution again and pretend you are a defender of it because this is a clear violation.”

“Absolutely. This is not a hard one,” Rubin agreed. “You don’t have to be a law student or lawyer to figure this one out. And listening to Nancy Pelosi yesterday introducing the measure and speaking about the separation of powers and importance of our Constitution, she sounded like Republicans used to talk, but of course Republicans don’t talk that way anymore.”

“They don’t seem to stand up for the Constitution,” Rubin said. “They don’t defend the defense budget. What happened to our national security hawks? Where is Tom Cotton when you need him? They don’t believe in controlling the debt. They don’t believe in human rights.”

“They have become a cult and they simply follow Donald Trump, meandering through the desert,” Rubin said. “Following him making excuses for him, enabling him. And it really is a moment for choosing. It really is a defining moment for the party and for these individuals.”

“[I]t has been for some time an article of faith that small government conservatives were more Madisonian. We believed in checks and balances,” Scarborough said. “We looked upon Hamilton’s contributions to the Federalist Papers as concerning when he talked about an imperial presidency, almost king-like powers. That’s what we were moving away from with King George III but here you have again Republicans after fighting against an imperial presidency for decades, now actually turning over a power that would allow future democratic socialist presidents to declare emergency on global warming or after the next school shooting to declare a national emergency and ban semi-automatic weapons, to do just about everything that conservatives have feared for a very long time.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.