The 'Stafford Act' invoked by Trump's national emergency declaration is designed to stop him from doing anything 'truly crazy': report

As President Trump declares a national state of emergency in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak, VICE's Greg Walters shed some light on the presidential powers that will be unleashed by the declaration.

Declaring a national emergency will unlock $40 billion in federal dollars to fight the outbreak -- funds made possible by the Stafford Act, which also allows Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to take a key role in battling the crisis.

The Stafford Act has been utilized by presidents before Trump, such as Barack Obama who used it to combat an outbreak of the "swine flu" (H1N1).

"...while the Stafford Act allows the Trump administration to throw around plenty of cash, it doesn’t let him do anything truly crazy — like postpone the 2020 election or suspend the rule of law," Walters writes.

Read more of Walters' report over at VICE.