President Trump speaks about his Constitutional duties

On “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” President Donald Trump was asked if he thinks he needs to uphold the U.S. Constitution, and he said, “I don’t know.” President Trump added his lawyers “are obviously going to follow what the Supreme Court said.”

This response came after a series of questions regarding the right to due process for people living in the United States and the Fifth Amendment. President Trump said he wants to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, some of whom he called “some of the worst people on Earth.” Welker then pressed President Trump on whether he, as President, needs to abide by the U.S. Constitution and the rights it provides to people in the U.S.

Stephen Montoya, a partner at Montoya, Lucero and Pastor and an expert in Constitutional law, joined “Arizona Horizon” to address the comments made by President Trump.

The answer to whether or not the President’s comments were legally correct or not comes down to a key ruling made by the Supreme Court last term, according to Montoya. “Last Supreme Court term, the court granted him immunity from any type of criminal prosecution for disobeying the law in the course of his office,” Montoya said.

That immunity is wide-reaching, but does not shield the President from all consequences for failing to upholding the Constitution. “He could be conceivably impeached a third time and actually convicted,” Montoya said. However, even if congress were to convict the President and remove him from office, he still could not be prosecuted.

“The Supreme Court said he would be criminally immune even if he were impeached,” Montoya said.