President Donald Trump reportedly is considering executive action to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, the latest in a series of surprising moves in what seems to be a Hail-Mary effort to get the query on the decennial survey.

Many are skeptical such action would be legal. The Constitution gives Congress the power to conduct the census, and Congress directed the secretary of commerce , who is appointed by the president, the authority to oversee the count.

The Supreme Court late last month thwarted Trumps commerce department from having the citizenship question on next years census, and for a moment it seemed the matter was settled. But the president re-ignited the controversy, vowing to continue to fight for the questions inclusion. And the Justice Department announced Sunday it was replacing the team of lawyers working on the case, a move that could signal concerns about the legal arguments the administration had been relying on to move forward on.

Attorney General William Barr said Monday he agreed with the president that the Supreme Courts ruling was incorrect and that a pathway could be found for having its way on the citizenship question.

The executive order route, though, would seem a non-starter there are existing court orders barring the question, and Trump cant just issue an edict wiping put such rulings.

Also, while the commerce secretary does have a considerable amount of power over the census, he is still constrained by federal administrative law, as well as other constitutional provisions, said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a census consultant who formerly worked as staff director of the House Census and Population Subcommittee.

Congress cannot cede its constitutional responsibility for the census to the ... executive branch and president, she wrote in an email.