Trump’s allies defend his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping tariffs by insisting that Congress can end the underlying “national emergency.”

They argue that if lawmakers fail to vote in favor of a veto-proof joint resolution overturning the emergency, Trump’s authority stands and the tariffs are legal. But Congress’s inability and unwillingness to do its job does not expand presidential power.

Congress holds the power to levy import duties. It has delegated that authority only in narrow ways — through two sections of the 1974 Trade Act for balance-of-payments problems and unfair trade practices, and through the 1962 Trade Expansion Act for national security. All of these powers come with both limits and procedures.

Trump wanted to avoid being hamstrung by the guardrails in........

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