War and emergency powers

A state of exception (German: Ausnahmezustand) is a concept introduced in the 1920s by the German philosopher, jurist and later Nazi Party member Carl Schmitt, similar to a state of emergency (martial law) but based in the sovereign's ability to transcend the rule of law in the name of what it sees as the public order and the survival of a state. Its difference to a state of emergency lies in the two concepts' diverging relationship to the law; while a state of emergency is considered to be mostly declaratory, a state of exception is considered to be more politically significant, as it nullifies the legal validity of certain legal orders by the sovereign decision.