US declares national emergency.

US president aims to use executive action to get govt funding for border wall

WAsHIngTon:

Battling with one branch of government and opening a new confrontation with another, President Donald Trump said he was declaring a national emergency to fulfill his pledge to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Bypassing Congress, which approved far less money for his proposed wall than he had sought, Trump said yesterday that he would use executive action to siphon billions of dollars from federal military construction and counterdrug efforts for the wall, aides said.

The move is already drawing bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill and is expected to face rounds of legal challenges.

Trump made the announcement from the Rose Garden, as he claimed illegal immigration was “an invasion of our country”.

His move followed a rare show of bipartisanship when lawmakers voted on Thursday to fund large swaths of the government and avoid a repeat of this winter’s debilitating five-week government shutdown.

The money in the Bill for border barriers, about US$1.4bil (RM5.7bil), is much less than the US$5.7bil (RM23.2bil) Trump insisted that he needed and would finance just a quarter of the more than 322km he wanted this year.

To bridge the gap, he announced that he would be spending roughly US$8bil (RM32.5bil) on border barriers – combining the money approved by Congress with funding he plans to repurpose through executive actions, including the national emergency.

The money is expected to come from funds targeted for military construction and counterdrug efforts, but aides could not immediately specify which military projects would be affected.

Despite widespread opposition in Congress to proclaiming an emergency, including by some Repub- licans, Trump was responding to pressure to act unilaterally to soothe his conservative base and avoid appearing like he had lost his wall battle.

Word that Trump would declare the emergency prompted condemnations from Democrats and threats of lawsuits from states and others who might lose federal money or said Trump was abusing his authority.

In a sing-songy tone of voice, Trump described how the decision will be challenged and work its way through the courts, including up to the US Supreme Court.

He said, “Sadly, we’ll be sued and sadly it will go through a process and happily we’ll win, I think.”

In an unusual joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it an “unlawful declaration over a crisis that does not exist” and said it “does great violence to our Constitution and makes America less safe, stealing from urgently needed defense funds for the security of our military and our nation”.

“The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts and in the public using every remedy available.”