10:00 A.M. EST
by Sharon Rondeau
(Feb. 15, 2019) — News reports Friday say that President Donald Trump will declare there to be a “national emergency” at the southern border in order to tap into government funding outside of direct congressional appropriations to build the wall he has advocated since the 2016 campaign.
He is scheduled to make the statement in the White House Rose Garden at 10:00 a.m.
Trump is also expected to sign the appropriations bill passed Thursday night by the Senate and House, which will preclude a second partial government shutdown to have begun at midnight Friday had an agreement not materialized.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted on Thursday that Trump would sign the bill and take “other executive action – including a national emergency – to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border.”
The bill, H.J. Res. 31, reportedly contains restrictions on how ICE funding can be used and the stipulation that certain illegal aliens who sponsor unaccompanied alien children (UAC) cannot be subjected to removal proceedings.
The bill contains $1.375 billion to enhance security at the border, although falling far short of the $5.7 billion Trump has requested since December.
Some congressional Democrats have suggested that Trump does not have the constitutional authority to declare a national emergency at the southern border and that they plan to challenge the action in court. On Friday morning’s “Fox & Friends,” constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley said that Congress has given that type of power to the chief executive and can also rescind it if sufficient support can be garnered from both chambers.
Democrats have refuted Trump’s claim of a national emergency, terming it a “manufactured crisis.”
On January 8, Turley wrote an op-ed at The Hill in which he contended, “I happen to agree that an emergency declaration to build the wall is unwise and unnecessary. However, the declaration is not unconstitutional.”
Conversely, The New York Post reported Thursday that the Justice Department “said the declaration is nearly certain to be blocked, at least on a temporary basis, preventing the president from accessing billions of dollars for his border wall, according to ABC News.”
Trump will reportedly seek approximately $8 billion in funds from the Department of Defense (DOD) and other government agencies.
If President Trump signs this bill he can kiss my support for him goodbye.