On Friday President Trump plans to sign the bipartisan omnibus spending bill presented by Congress to keep the federal government funded. However, since the legislation does not provide all the billions of dollars he needs to fund his wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, he will also declare a national emergency. He has reportedly found $8 billion from different government agencies to get the job done.
The emergency declaration has the blessing of some Republican lawmakers, like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
I stand firmly behind President @realDonaldTrump’s decision to use executive powers to build the wall-barriers we desperately need. https://t.co/RVer0vZgus
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 14, 2019
But, plenty others have let the president know they do not approve of his executive decision. One of its most vocal critics is Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
"We have a crisis at our southern border, but no crisis justifies violating the Constitution,” Rubio wrote in a statement on Thursday. He argued that a future Democratic president could use the same strategy to enforce something like the progressive Green New Deal.
"No crisis justifies violating the Constitution" -- Sen. Rubio in explaining his opposition to Trump's wall plan.
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) February 14, 2019
Rubio also says he voted no on the spending deal because it didn't include hurricane-recovery money & would use "communities in Florida as pawns" pic.twitter.com/FuwCOxL9eU
He wasn't the only Republican senator to question Trump's presidential privileges here.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has also noted that Trump's emergency declaration is of "dubious constitutionality.”
President Trump will speak about the national emergency shortly from the White House.