Trump: Insurrection Act ‘the strongest power a president has’

President Trump on Sunday called the Insurrection Act “the strongest power a president has” after saying earlier this month he was considering invoking it.

“We want to have great crime-free cities. So, I’d be allowed to use, if I wanted, the Insurrection Act, and then all of this nonsense would go away. You have the absolute right. It’s the strongest power a president has, and you have the absolute right to do it,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

The Insurrection Act features a mix of statutes passed from 1792 to 1871 that allow the president to call up an armed militia or federal troops to put down a domestic rebellion or insurrection.

The act is a part of the U.S. code and lets the president invoke the act in any state, including the territories of Guam or the Virgin Islands, if the commander-in-chief agrees it is “impracticable to enforce” federal or state laws due to the rebellion or disturbance.

Earlier this month, Trump said he was thinking about invoking the Insurrection Act in justification of deploying federal troops to Portland, Ore. In comments from the Oval Office, Trump compared the situation in the Beaver State’s largest city to an “insurrection,” although he said he had not yet made a decision on invoking the Insurrection Act.

“Portland is on fire. Portland’s been on fire for years,” Trump said, calling the situation “all insurrection.”

In recent months, the president has deployed National Guard troops to Democratic-leaning cities including Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Memphis, Tenn., resulting in backlash from Democratic officials and local residents.

Last week, a federal appeals court shot down the Trump administration’s request to remove an order halting the deployment of the National Guard throughout Illinois.