Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., says he is all for border security, but he will vote for a resolution to block President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration on the southern border.
In an opinion piece posted Monday by The Washington Post, Tillis argued the declaration would set a precedent that could be used by future presidents to fund policy projects Congress rejects.
His decision — coming ahead of a vote by the Democrat-controlled House that is expected to pass the resolution — brings the Senate one vote closer to passage of the block.
Four GOP votes are needed in the Senate to pass the measure and sink Trump's declaration. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are both viewed as supporters of the block.
Trump has threatened to veto the resolution if it makes it to his desk.
Conservatives "should be thinking about whether they would accept the prospect of a President Bernie Sanders declaring a national emergency to implement parts of the radical Green New Deal; a President Elizabeth Warren declaring a national emergency to shut down banks and take over the nation's financial institutions; or a President Cory Booker declaring a national emergency to restrict Second Amendment rights," Tillis wrote.
"As a U.S. senator, I cannot justify providing the executive with more ways to bypass Congress. As a conservative, I cannot endorse a precedent that I know future left-wing presidents will exploit to advance radical policies that will erode economic and individual freedoms," Tillis wrote.
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