The President’s declaration of a national emergency is a sham. There is no national security emergency at our southern border. The crisis we face is a humanitarian one, that will not be solved by a wall, but with thoughtful, comprehensive immigration reform.

Trump’s wall has never been about national security: it is a political applause line he uses to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment. That is why the  House, the Senate, and the American people rejected the President’s wall funding. Instead of accepting that reality, he is threatening an unconstitutional power grab by taking money the legislature has granted to other military projects to fund his wall. While his moral authority has always been in question, he is now undermining the legal authority of the Office of the President and violating Article 1 of the Constitution.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans came together to fund a spending bill that while imperfect, was a compromise and prevented another government shutdown. Now we must stand together again to stop the President’s unconstitutional actions and prevent him from undermining our rule of law.