Rand Paul warns Trump that using the military for mass deportations would be a 'huge mistake'

Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday broke rank with President-elect Donald Trump by warning him that using the United States military to help carry out his mass deportations plan would be a "huge mistake." 

Trump, who made illegal immigration and border security one of the focal points of his presidential campaign, teased on Monday that he could declare a national emergency and use the military to help with the mass deportations of people living in the country illegally.

Paul said sending the military in domestic operations was not what the military was intended for and that the operation should fall on local police and other law enforcement agencies.

“I’m not in favor of sending the Army in uniforms into our cities to collect people,”  Paul told Newsmax host Rob Schmitt. “I think it’s a terrible image and that’s not what we use our military for, we never have. And it’s actually been illegal for over 100 years to bring the Army into our cities ... I will not support an emergency [declaration] to put the Army into our cities — I think that’s a huge mistake."

The senator added that other Republican officials, including members of Congress, should also caution Trump against sending the military into U.S. cities.

Paul, who will serve as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the next Congress, said he does support restoring Trump's Remain in Mexico policy.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.