Many people have asked, “Why doesn’t the President just send in the military or federal agents to stop the rioting in our cities?” The answer is quite simple. He can’t. Not unless the State legislature or the Governor of the State asks him to and they haven’t.
We must never forget that the Constitution created a Federal Government with very limited powers. Any power not expressly given to the Federal Government remained with the States or with individual citizens. See the Tenth Amendment. Article 4, Section IV of the United States Constitution gave power to the Federal Government to “guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion;” It then limited this power with the following clause, “and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”
Why was the power of the Federal Government limited in this way? Because, as Americans, we did not want an all-powerful and uncontrollable national Government. The national Government was created to handle things the States could not handle well alone. Therefore, the national Government was given authority to fight off invasions by foreign powers. However, internal violence was a matter each State was deemed fully capable of handling on their own. The national Government was not to intervene in the internal affairs of the States unless invited by the State to do so. This is what we call “federalism” and it is the type of Government we cherish in our country. Power is distributed between the national Government and the State Governments. In the national Government is granted authority to regulate commerce and affairs between the States and with foreign governments. Each State retains the authority to exercise the police powers, regulate the health and safety of its citizens, and govern the activities taking place within the State. In this manner, citizens are better able to regulate the day-to-day activities of life by being more easily able to direct their representatives in State and local governments.
So, when there are riots in the streets, we need to remember it is the responsibility of the State government to re-establish peace. The Federal Government lacks the authority to do so unless the State asks it to come in and assist.
