President Donald Trump has the authority under the Insurrection Act to deploy federal troops domestically under certain conditions, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday.
Paxton told Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show" that Trump "certainly has the right" to invoke the Insurrection Act in situations where "there's domestic violence, if there's armed conflict with a state or with people in that state that the state refuses to put down."
He also said the provision could apply if a state government fails to act in the face of violence or lawlessness or if actions occur against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
Former presidents George H.W. Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy all invoked the Insurrection Act, Paxton said.
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson also invoked the Insurrection Act.
"It's been used when there's out-of-control states who aren't enforcing state and federal laws," Paxton said.
Trump threatened Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops amid protests in Minneapolis over federal immigration enforcement.
The warning followed a shooting involving an immigration officer and came after an earlier fatal shooting by an ICE agent.
The 1807 law allows presidents to deploy the military domestically during civil unrest but is rarely used.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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