The Senate passed a measure that would block President Donald Trump from using emergency powers to take money intended for construction projects on military bases and use them towards the border wall.

The motion passed by a vote of 54-41.

Earlier this month, Trump announced he would be taking a total of $3.6 billion from military construction projects and redirecting them to fund the wall. That included the $160 million intended to go to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 

While the measure is likely to pass the House of Representatives, it is expected Trump will veto it.

Previously reported:

Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand denounced the Trump administration's decision to reallocate $3.6 billion in funds for what they called "military construction projects" to that of funding the southern border wall. Their joint statements were made public on Wednesday.

The $3.6 billion was to be spread across the country for those projects, and $160 million, according to the statement, was to be used for an engineering center and as support for structures at the West Point United States Military Academy. The statement says Congressional members were made aware of the decision Tuesday night from U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and the use of the $160 million for the wall was confirmed Wednesday morning by the Department of Defense. 

"The president is stripping billions of dollars of funding needed to support our service members at installations like West Point, in order to build an ineffective and misguided southern border wall he promised Mexico would pay for," Schumer said. "This is a slap in the face to the members of the Armed Forces who sacrifice so much to defend our liberty."

Schumer went on to call the border wall "expensive and ineffective," a statement mirrored by Gillibrand. 

“Constructing a wall at the southern border would be a waste of taxpayer money that will do nothing to advance our national security interests," Gillibrand said. "President Trump is now stealing money from West Point and 126 other military installation projects across the country in order to work around Congress and build this needless vanity project." 

Both senators spoke of the importance to invest in the students at West Point. Gillibrand says this is the case, especially as the engineering center money had been vetted by officials. 

"The targeted military construction projects, including the engineering center at West Point, have undergone a thorough review process by the military and by Congress and were determined necessary for military operations, unlike the President’s border wall," Gillibrand said.

The Wednesday statement says in recent years, Congress had allocated more than $300 million for military construction projects at such locations as the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, West Point, and the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney also issued a statement and penned a letter to Trump, urging him to reverse the decision.

“I thought Mexico was paying for the wall, not our future military leaders. The important projects he’s putting at risk are far more important than his misguided vanity project. I won’t stand by as he robs our next generation of leaders and military families of opportunity and improvements to their education,” Maloney said.

His letter to the White House and Trump can be read below:

I write today to express my strong opposition to your administration’s plans to cut funding for planned military construction projects at the United States Military Academy at West Point in order to pay for the construction of a wall on the southern border.

The projects at West Point have been Congressionally authorized and are essential to the operations, success, and safety of the Academy and its cadets, faculty and their families.  These projects include the construction of a state-of-the-art Cyber and Engineering Academic Center and parking structure which will be critical to future readiness of the Army.

The Constitution requires that you seek approval for such funds from the people’s duly elected representatives in Congress. Your attempt to circumvent the U.S. House and Senate is a clear violation of the will of the legislative branch and raises serious Constitutional concerns.

I firmly believe that taking any funds Congress appropriated for necessary military construction projects threatens readiness. But I also have particular concerns regarding West Point, as I represent the area in Congress. Stealing funds from the next generation of military leaders to fund an expensive and inefficient border wall would be a misuse of federal funds. It would also demonstrate a lack of commitment to West Point and its outstanding cadets, faculty, and staff.

I strongly urge you to abandon this plan and hold true to your commitment to the men and women of our armed forces.