WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency in a push to fund his promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border by sidestepping Congress.

  • The action sparked political blowback from both Democrats and Republicans
  • Legal challenges and legislative actions expected to try to block declaration
  • Trump looking for $8 billion for border barriers

On the same day Trump signed a spending and border security measure into law that would prevent another government shutdown, he released a plan to repurpose funds to build his proposed border wall.

“I'm going to be signing a national emergency, and it's been signed many times before, by many presidents. It's rarely been a problem,” the president said during remarks in the White House Rose Garden.

Critics of Trump’s emergency declaration are preparing to challenge it in court and Democrats along with some Republicans are slamming his decision. Some lawmakers call his move as a violation of the Constitution.

Trump’s declaration has also ignited debate over the limitations on executive authority. The president disagrees with his critics that he has manufactured a crisis along the border to fulfill a campaign promise.

“We’re going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border and we’re going to do it one way or the other,” he said. “We have an invasion of drugs and criminals coming into our country.”

The White House is aiming to find at least $8 billion to use for barriers.

Nearly $1.4 billion will come from the bipartisan spending bill, which allows for 55 miles of new fencing. The White House has identified about $6.5 billion more in existing Treasury Department and Pentagon funding it plans to redirect for the construction of border fencing and barriers.

Both the House and the Senate could pass a resolution of disapproval of the emergency actions, but the measure would likely be vetoed by Trump. Both chambers would need to override the veto with a two-thirds vote.

“The president’s actions clearly violate the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the courts, and in the public, using every remedy available.”