Democratic congressional leaders claim President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to spend additional money on a border wall is unlawful, with some even saying this maneuver looks more like a dictatorship than a democracy. On this matter, the Democrats are wrong. It was Congress that gave the president this power.

The Military Construction Codification Act of 1982 provides that the president can reallocate funds for military construction projects when he declares a national emergency “that requires use of the armed forces.”