US President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to build his promised ‘wall’ along the southern border with Mexico, it has been revealed.
The White House announced that the President will also sign a border security bill should it pass through Congress, aimed as a compromise between the Democrats and the Republicans.
[UPDATE 2126GMT: The border security bill has been passed by the Senate.]
The bill contains $1.3 billion (£1 billion) in funding for border security, but with no money specifically alloted for the proposed border wall.
In a statement, the White House said:
President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action – including a national emergency – to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border. The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country.
It is expected that the President will use money from the budget from the military to bypass approval from Congress to build the wall.
Democratic leaders have already expressed their condemnation of the move, with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer warning on MSNBC that such a move could set a dangerous precedent for future Presidents.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, noted that the President chose the one year anniversary of the Parkland school shooting to make this move, saying that she wishes he would declare gun violence a national emergency.
Pelosi also then hinted that a future Democratic president could choose to act in such fashion, saying “I wish [he] would. But a Democratic president could do that”.
She also suggested that they may instigate a legal challenge to his actions.
Featured Image: Michael Vadon
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