The US Congress will defend its constitutional authorities as President Donald Trump uses executive powers to issue a declaration of national emergency on the US border with Mexico in order to fund constructing a border wall, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) The US Congress will defend its constitutional authorities as President Donald Trump uses executive powers to issue a declaration of national emergency on the US border with Mexico in order to fund constructing a border wall, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.
"Declaring a national emergency would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall," the statement said on Thursday. "Congress will defend our constitutional authorities."
Earlier on Thursday, the White House confirmed that Trump would take executive action to declare a national emergency on the US southern border in order to acquire the funding needed to build a border wall.
Pelosi and Schumer characterized the US president's decision to invoke a national emergency as a "naked contempt for the rule of law."
The Democratic leaders said there is no national emergency on the southern US border and Trump's "fear mongering" does not mean such emergency exists.
Congress is expected to pass bipartisan legislation on Thursday that provides $1.37 billion for Trump's border wall, which falls short from the $5.7 billion Trump initially requested. Trump is nevertheless expected to sign this bill.
