(CNN) -- House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday the national emergency President Donald Trump announced is unconstitutional because he declared the emergency when "Congress explicitly rejected" the money for the wall on the southern border in the funding package.
"This is the first time a president has tried to declare an emergency when Congress explicitly rejected funding for the particular project that the President is advocating," Schiff said on CNN's "State of the Union."
"He's pretty much daring the court to strike this down," the California Democrat said. "It is going to be a real test for my GOP colleagues in Congress and their devotion to the institution."
Schiff, in his role on the House Intelligence Committee, has been a vocal critic of the President's decisions both on immigration and his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Since Democrats became the majority in the House of Representatives, Schiff has announced sweeping new investigations into the President's finances and business interests.
When asked by CNN's Dana Bash about any plans to limit the President's authority to declare national emergencies, Schiff expressed hesitation.
"The risk that the President takes, the risk to future Presidencies, is that we limit the President's power to act when it really is necessary," Schiff said. "But this president doesn't care about future presidents, he only cares about himself."
The-CNN-Wire
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