US President declares national emergency to get funding for wall

US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to address the ongoing issues with border security on Friday in order to unilaterally build physical barriers along significant portions of the United States border with Mexico.

The declaration of the national emergency at the border,  to access billions of dollars to build a border wall that Congress refused to give him, transforms a highly charged policy dispute into a fundamental confrontation over separation of powers.

The New York Times reports “In a televised announcement in the Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said he was signing the declaration to protect the country from the flow of drugs, criminals and illegal immigrants coming across the southwestern border from Mexico, which he characterized as a profound threat to national security.

The declaration will enable Mr. Trump to divert $3.6 billion budgeted for military construction projects to the border wall, White House officials said. Mr. Trump will also use more traditional presidential budgetary discretion to tap $2.5 billion from counternarcotics programs and $600 million from a Treasury Department asset forfeiture fund.

Combined with the $1.375 billion authorized for fencing in a spending package passed by Congress on Thursday night, Mr. Trump would then have about $8 billion in all to advance construction of new barriers and repairs or replacement of existing barriers along the border this year, significantly more than the $5.7 billion that Congress refused to give him.”