'We don't have a king:' Trump's claim of 'total' authority over states gets pushback across spectrum

President Donald Trump's claim that he has total authority over governors to "reopen" states drew pushback Monday, including from some fellow conservatives.

During Monday's press briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, Trump said, “When somebody’s president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to to be. It's total. It’s total. And the governors know that."

"They will agree to it," Trump said of the governors. "But the authority of the president of the United States, having to do with the subject we’re talking about, is total.”

More:Who decides when and how America reopens from its coronavirus shutdown?

Federal law allows the federal government to impose quarantines in some circumstances and limit travel between states, but the Trump administration has not invoked those powers. The Supreme Court has struck down attempts by the federal government to intervene within states and Trump would not offer specifics about the source of this power when pressed by members of the press.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-WY., third-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. House, quoted the 10th Amendment in a tweet, seemingly responding to the president's comments:

"The federal government does not have absolute power," she wrote.