Sen. Lindsey Graham said the Republican Party is very divided over the border wall and argued that President Trump choosing to declare a national emergency to build the structure could mean war within the GOP.
“I’m not very optimistic we’re going to get a deal,” Graham told reporters in Greenville, South Carolina on Monday. “It seems to me that he's gonna have to go it alone, but there could be a war within the Republican Party over the wall."
The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said that he would support the president if he chose that route and urged his colleagues to do the same.
In Greenville, @LindseyGrahamSC says he’s “not very optimistic” about the odds of a wall funding deal with Democrats.
— Jamie Lovegrove (@jslovegrove) February 4, 2019
“It seems to me that (Trump) is going to have to go it alone. But there could be a war within the Republican Party over the wall...” #scpol pic.twitter.com/DMpfB2UgwT
"To any Republican who denies the president the ability to act as commander in chief, you're going to create a real problem within the party," Graham said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly told the president that some Republicans may join Democrats “to pass a resolution to block any emergency declaration, which Trump would then have to veto,” Reuters reports.
“I’ll be really disappointed if my Senate colleagues do not understand that the president has the right to do this and the responsibility to do this,” Graham said.
Congress must reach a deal by February 15 to avoid a second partial government shutdown.