While the president has far-reaching powers in a state of emergency, experts say Trump could face legal challenges over specific provisions.
President Donald Trump plans to sign the bipartisan spending bill to avoid another government shutdown, but he has not given up on funding for the border wall. The White House announced Thursday that Trump could declare a national state of emergency over the wall, invoking broad powers that fund military construction projects.
With the shutdown deadline looming, Congress has closed in on a deal that provides only $1.375 billion of the $5.7 billion Trump requested to build a wall on the southern border. The administration has already adjusted for this failure: At campaign rallies, «build the wall» has become «finish the wall.»
But Trump might have access to more funding if he declares a national emergency, as he threatened to do last month, saying, «If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on [February 15th] again or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency.»
On Thursday, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed these plans. «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,» she said in a statement .
Trump has walked back these threats in the past. What will it mean if he follows through?
U. S. presidents have far-reaching emergency powers with few congressional limitations. Under the National Emergencies Act of 1976, there is no legal threshold for a national emergency, meaning the situation at the U. S.–Mexico border could qualify, despite evidence that immigration does not pose a terror-related threat to national security.
