President Donald Trump finally declared a national emergency to spend $8 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, bypassing Congress’ power of the purse.
The President’s action comes after the Congress only approved $1.375 billion in border funding. He demanded $5.7 billion.
In his remarks at the White House Rose Garden on Friday, Trump said he is “signing a national emergency…because we have an invasion of drugs, invasion of gangs, invasion of people, and it’s unacceptable.”
Trump stressed that the influx of criminals, gangs, and drugs through the southern border is a national security crisis. He wants to stop it “one way or another.” He added that it is very hard to stop the crisis, but “with a wall it would be very easy.”
Trump expects legal battle
Additionally, the President is expecting a legal challenge to his action but he is confident that his administration will prevail. He said, “We will have a national emergency and we will then be sued. We’ll possibly get a bad ruling, and then we’ll get another bad ruling, and then we’ll end up at the Supreme Court and hopefully we’ll get a fair shake.”
