With a 16-state lawsuit having already filed against his administration, President Trump’s emergency declaration to build the border continues to be met with significant opposition from both sides of the political aisle, including some of the most hawkish, pro-legal immigration legislators in Washington, D.C.
It goes without saying that congressional Democrats have flipped their political lids over the declaration, but some of Trump’s biggest legislative cheerleaders have also called his move into question.
As reported by HISPOLITICA last month, Texas Senator John Cornyn told reporters that Trump’s move would be met with litigation and was not a “practical solution to the problem.”
“I just think, given the fact that he’s probably going to get sued and this will end up in litigation and balled up for months, if not years it’s really not a practical solution to the problem,” said Cornyn.
Cornyn’s fellow Republican colleague in the senate, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, also question the potential edict, and now that the president has made his play to build the wall, Rubio all-but made the Democratic case that Trump was taking money away from other “badly needed” defense areas.
Rubio tweeted that Trump could get $4.5 billion for the wall without having to take away from those “badly needed” sectors within the national defense budget.
"President can get $4.5 billion for border wall without having to use emergency declaration to take money from badly needed military construction: - $1.375 billion from spending bill - $601 million from Treasury Forfeiture Fund; - $2.5 billion from DOD Counterdrug fund."-Sen. Marco Rubio (Twitter)
President can get $4.5 billion for border wall without having to use emergency declaration to take money from badly needed military construction:
- $1.375 billion from spending bill
- $601 million from Treasury Forfeiture Fund;
- $2.5 billion from DOD Counterdrug fund— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 20, 2019
Rubio makes a good point, at it’s only a matter of time if Trump decides to take his suggestions, or if the president opts for what Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) proposes. Cruz wants the US government to confiscate billions of dollars of drug money that belongs to convicted Drug lord “El Chapo.”
