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Presidents have leeway to use military for domestic purposes

Posted at 6:54 AM, Jun 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-02 06:54:15-04

WASHINGTON D.C. — President Donald Trump’s warning that he will deploy the United States military to any state that refuses to take aggressive action against rioting rests on a longstanding presidential power that gives wide latitude to the White House.

That's according to legal experts, who say the president does indeed have the authority under the Insurrection Act of 1807 to dispatch the military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.

Even so, the president’s comments set up an immediate conflict with officials in some states, who disputed that the president had unilateral authority to send in troops against their will.