BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A Republican lawmaker wants the Idaho Statehouse to have its own monument to the Ten Commandments.

State Sen. Gerry Sweet plans to introduce legislation authorizing the marker.

“This isn’t a religious issue. The issue is about where our laws come from and who is the great legislator of the universe, which the Idaho Constitution points out is Almighty God,” Sweet told The Idaho Statesman on Friday. “It’s becoming more and more critical to stand up and defend our Judeo-Christian heritage.”

Sweet plans to detail his proposal during Sunday’s rally for the Ten Commandments display in Boise’s Julia Davis Park.

A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho says Sweet’s proposal is unwise, and would very easily be rejected in court.

“When you place a Ten Commandments monument on state property, there is an implied endorsement of religion, which is exactly what is prohibited by the Constitution,” said Marty Durand, staff attorney for the ACLU’s Idaho chapter.

But Sweet said the dispute over a Ten Commandments monument in Alabama prompted him to bring the fight to the Idaho Legislature next month.

“Either laws come from God or they come from man, and the laws that come from man are ever-changing,” Sweet said. “And therein lies a great danger.”

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from office Nov. 13 for refusing an order by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson to move a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama court building.

Sweet said his proposal would require a monument to the Ten Commandments located in a place that is “significant and reflect the importance of it. We want to make sure it’s not just a plaque stuck on the back wall.”

Sweet wants the monument to go in the first-floor Rotunda, and says the basis for such a display is the state constitution, which recognizes God.

According to Idaho’s Constitution, it is illegal for “any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship” and that spending money on religious causes is also banned.

“I don’t think it’s going to fly because the Idaho Constitution has a bigger separation of church and state than the federal one,” Durand said.