This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.

I'm your host, Greg Sargent.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump ordered up the National Guard to deal with violence that broke out in Los Angeles in relation to protests of Trump's immigration policies.

This is angered California governor Gavin Newsom,

who is now suing the administration over it. But now Trump is saying he might send the Marines into

California, which makes this whole thing even worse. We think that this whole saga is best seen as a

test. Trump is testing how the country will respond if he sends troops

into American cities. Are we passing that test? We're trying to unravel all this today with

former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuaid, who's the author of the book, Attack from Within,

how disinformation is sabotaging America. Barbara, thanks for coming on.

Thanks for having me, Greg. So to catch everybody up, Trump called up the National Guard

without the input or assent of the governor, Gavin Newsom, who has said law enforcement was

managing the situation just fine. Barbara, can you walk us through why this move by Trump

was itself a grotesque abuse of power?

Well, if you look at the section that President Trump invokes as the authority, it is a federal

statute that gives the president the authority to call in the National Guard when there is a

rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority

of the U.S. government. But it specifically says that when the president does so, the order for

these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the states. Now, according to Governor Newsom's lawsuit, that's not what happened. Instead,

the directive went directly to the military leader. So it's a process issue, but, you know,

when it comes to the law, process is everything, especially the idea that you are going to

federalize the National Guard, put them in place, and not follow the proper

...