“Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution allows states to enter into agreements, known as Interstate Compacts, with the consent of Congress,” it points out.
Compacts already are widely used for allocating waters of the rivers in the West, where multiple states claim rights to use waters from the Colorado River, the North Platte and other rivers.
“However, the Supreme Court has ruled that congressional consent ‘is necessary only in the case of a compact that enhances the political power of the member states in relation to the federal government.’ In the case of border security, the states are only exercising their inherent powers and their powers under the 10th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, not contravening any legitimate federal powers,” the paper explains.
“After extensive legal research done by the attorneys at the United States Justice Foundation, we have concluded that congressional consent is not required by the Constitution for an Interstate Compact on Border Security such as the one recently proposed by State Sen. Bob Hall of Texas.”
Is the 10th Amendment still in force?
