President Donald Trump floated the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act - one of the White House’s most potent emergency powers - once again this week.

The centuries-old law enables a president to deploy the military on U.S. soil in extraordinary circumstances: to quell an insurrection, civil disorder or armed rebellion. However, it has not been invoked since 1992 and has not been used without the consent of a state’s governor for 60 years.

On Monday, Trump said he would invoke the act “if it was necessary” and if courts “or governors and mayors were holding us up.” His White House is battling lawsuits from Oregon and Illinois over his attempts to deploy National Guard troops to Portland and Chicago.

What is the Insurrection Act of 1807?

The Insurrection Act allows a president

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