“Statutes that allow presidents or heads of state to call emergencies are extremely dangerous,” argues Senator Rand Paul of the United States. “We have the same sort of statutes here,” the senator said, referring to Canada’s Emergencies Act, which was used by the Trudeau government.
Senator Rand Paul Issues a Statement on the Emergency Act in the United States
When in an interview of the Based Politics podcast that aired Sunday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul worried about statutes in the United States that are comparable to the Emergencies Act invoked by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week.
“I believe that statutes allowing presidents or heads of state to declare calamities are quite hazardous,” Paul said
We have similar laws here, and I’ve been a staunch critic of them for a long time. In the United States, we have an Emergency Act that permits the president to turn off the internet.
“I sought to take this power away from President Trump when he was in office,” he said. Paul, on the other hand, admitted, “I could never get it through.”
[Senator] Mike Lee had some revisions on the Emergency Act that he put out, and it’s something we should look at because these things go on and on,” he stated. In the United States, there are certain emergencies that have been going on for decades. And the president can just renew them on an annual basis. There’s nothing that can stop him.”
“The emergency decree that Trudeau has done in Canada permits him to do some awful things, allows him to prohibit travel, allows him to imprison people without trial,” Paul said of Canada’s Emergencies Act. Now, we don’t know if he’ll do it, but what he might do is really concerning.”
The senator from Kentucky was also asked how often emergency powers are used as intended, i.e., for a limited period of time. “It’s a truism that it’s easier to take liberty away than it is to bring it back,” he replied. It’s also true that governments expand in size during times of crises.” He continued, “
It’s difficult to relax when freedom is taken away.
“If I could, I would give them some Bitcoin,” Paul remarked of donations to the Freedom Convoy truckers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that police will no longer be able to employ emergency powers. “Because the situation is no longer an emergency, the federal government will cease to invoke the emergency legislation,”. Existing laws and bylaws, we believe, are sufficient.”
