What the National Emergencies Act Enables
Understanding the National Emergencies Act (NEA) and the Scope of Presidential Emergency Powers
The National Emergencies Act (NEA), passed in 1976, is a foundational law that governs how the President of the United States can declare and utilize emergency powers. While the NEA itself does not provide any specific powers, it creates the legal framework that allows the President to activate emergency authorities contained in more than 120 other laws.
What the NEA Does
Requires the President to formally declare a national emergency to access certain statutory powers.
Mandates that the President specify which emergency powers are being invoked.
Requires publication of the emergency declaration in the Federal Register.
Imposes a requirement that the emergency be renewed annually or it expires.
Provides Congress with the theoretical ability to terminate the emergency.
In essence, the NEA is a procedural law that governs how emergency powers are triggered—not what those powers are.
Powers Unlocked by Declaring a National Emergency
Once a national emergency is declared, the President can access a wide array of contingent powers from other statutes. These include:
Economic controls: Through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the President can freeze assets, block financial transactions, and impose sanctions on foreign entities.
Military readiness: Call up reservists, redirect military construction funds, or control navigation in U.S. waters.
Transportation and communication controls: Restrict movement or regulate electronic communications infrastructure.
Property seizure: Prohibit or regulate property transactions involving foreign interests.
The specific powers vary depending on which laws are cited in the emergency declaration.
How the NEA Relates to IEEPA
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is one of the most frequently invoked laws under the NEA. Passed in 1977, IEEPA allows the President to take sweeping economic actions to respond to any unusual and extraordinary foreign threat.
However, IEEPA can only be used after a national emergency is declared under the NEA and must pertain to a foreign threat. It has been used in a variety of contexts—from targeting terrorist financing after 9/11 to sanctioning foreign governments.
In practice, this means the NEA is the gateway law that makes IEEPA usable.
The Insurrection Act and the NEA
The Insurrection Act is often mentioned in the same breath as emergency powers, but it operates independently of the NEA. The President does not need to declare a national emergency to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the use of military force within the U.S. to suppress civil unrest, rebellion, or insurrection.
While not legally tied to the NEA, a President could theoretically use both laws in tandem—one to justify economic control and the other to authorize domestic military deployment.
Can Congress Revoke a National Emergency?
Yes—but it’s harder than it sounds.
The NEA originally allowed Congress to end an emergency by a simple majority vote in both chambers. However, the Supreme Court’s 1983 ruling in INS v. Chadha struck down the legislative veto, requiring that any termination resolution must pass both the House and Senate and be signed by the President—or override a presidential veto.
In practical terms, this means:
Congress can pass a joint resolution to terminate a national emergency.
The President can veto this resolution.
Congress must then override the veto with a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Given modern political polarization, this makes it extremely difficult for Congress to unilaterally end a national emergency without bipartisan consensus.
When the Guardrails Don’t Hold
The National Emergencies Act provides a critical legal structure for the exercise of emergency powers by the executive branch, but it also highlights the limits of congressional oversight in practice. While designed to impose transparency and checks on presidential authority, the NEA has evolved into a tool that grants significant flexibility to the President—especially when combined with laws like IEEPA. Understanding this framework is essential in evaluating how emergency powers are used—or potentially abused—in times of crisis.