People tend to forget that before Katrina, the President did not have the authority to mobilize the national guard and/or reserve units without the governor's prior request. That protection was built in to prevent a president from essentially declaring martial law and remaining in office via military control. Since Katrina and the new Homeland Security acts, that has changed (to the absolute horror of every governor):


Probably the most controversial section of the new legislation expands the president's authority to mobilize the reserve components for domestic operations without the consent of the governor during a natural disaster, terrorist attack, epidemic or other public health emergency.

Congress enacted the changes despite the objections of every governor in the nation to this type of increase in presidential power.

The changes were enacted as modifications of the Insurrection Act, a law originally passed right after the outbreak of the Civil War. The Insurrection Act permits a president to use either the state militia or federal military forces to enforce the law when he determines that civil authorities are unable or unwilling to maintain law and order.

It is unlikely, however, that typical natural disasters – the hurricanes, floods, and forest fires that occur every year in the U.S. – will be met with wholesale federalizations of the National Guard. The amended law still requires the president to determine that a state is unable to maintain public order and that violence obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States before the Guard can be federalized under this law.


See:

http://www.ngb.army.mil/news/archives/101806-Defense_law.aspx

>>>The religious volunteer organizations did a terrific job. As did the Coast Guard. You're right, it wasn't an across the board disaster. For that, the federal government was needed ;-(
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>>FYI, EPA is a Federal Agency (as is the Coast Guard), and our part of the response was exemplary as I pointed out. For the response debacle, you get to spread that out across all levels of gov't, including the State and New Orleans gov'ts.
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>Point take about the Coast Guard. (For some reason it doesn't seem like part of the federal government. Maybe because it's not one of the deskbound agencies?) And there was plenty of blame to go around among government agencies at all levels, as "When the Levees Broke" amply showed.
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>Before I say another word, do you work for the EPA? I vaguely recall that you do, or did.