Mere minutes after ABC News published a report claiming that the Trump Administration had considered declaring a national emergency to circumvent Congress and start construction on the rest of President Trump’s border wall, President Trump confirmed as much during a raucous White House press conference on Friday.
After saying that the federal government could use eminent domain to secure the land for the wall, Trump responded to a question about using his emergency powers to build the wall with a definitive “yes.”
“We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly,” Trump said.
According to the ABC News report, discussions about declaring a national emergency have been happening at “a working level” and that discussions have intensified as Democrats have continued to insist that they won’t approve any funding for a border wall, and Trump has insisted that he has no intention of capitulating. On Friday, Trump rattled anxious furloughed federal workers by saying the shutdown could persist for “months or years”.
WATCH: President Trump says he is considering declaring a national emergency as a potential attempt to circumvent Congress for border wall funding. pic.twitter.com/7CYDuBS2pn
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 4, 2019
The administration will reportedly hold meetings on Friday and over the weekend to discuss “next steps” for getting the wall built, despite Trump acknowledging that he had a “productive” and “very good” meeting with Democratic leaders on Friday.
Still, one of ABC’s sources said using the emergency powers would only be a partial solution.
One administration official described the current executive action under consideration as clearing the way for the construction of roughly 115 miles of new border wall strictly on land owned by DoD, which would make up roughly 5 percent of the more than 2,000-mile border.
[…]
“The President has some limited authority to direct the Department of Defense to build portions of the barrier along the southern border,” Tom Bossert, Trump’s former Homeland Security adviser and current ABC News contributor said. “Depending on what approach he takes, every option available to him comes with some structural constraints and will be met with congressional opposition and legal action — even the very rare emergency authority that has garnered debate this week. Unless Congress acts, there is seemingly a significant limit to the amount of wall Department of Defense could build.”
On another note, when asked about what furloughed government employees should do if the shutdown persists, Trump said those workers are “good for the money” and that many of those going without pay want him “to keep going” for the good of the country.
Trump tweeted last month that he could order the military to build the wall if Democrats wouldn’t cave, affirming that the wall would get built one way or another.
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