Professor Emeritus William C. Banks provided insight on the Insurrection Act to CBS News.
“The basic idea, which emerged early on in the United States, is that there might be circumstances when state and local law enforcement resources and state and local militia, now the National Guard, would not be able to adequately contain protests or disturbances on the ground in their communities,” said Banks. “So the Insurrection Act allows the president to call forth the regular military or other federal forces to come into state or local communities and engage in law enforcement in an emergency circumstance.”
He noted that the basis for triggering the act “is incredibly open-ended” and the statute “basically says the president can do this whenever he determines that it’s impractical to enforce the laws.”