The current European “migration crisis” occupies a legally ambiguous space between political rhetoric and emergency measures. This analysis examines whether migration flows could actually fall into the classical-conventional definition of “emergency” under the constitutional theory and the subsequent legal-political complications on the European Union democracy. It argues that this migration “emergency” reflects two main paradoxes as it is portrayed as an exceptional and temporally limited phenomenon. Despite these paradoxes, emergency measures are adopted, posing further questions around the European Union democratic deficit. The analysis concludes that in the case of the European “migration crisis” the emergency has become a permanent and paradigmatic form of government.