At least two Republican senators are opposed to President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to build his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We have a crisis at our southern border, but no crisis justifies violating the Constitution,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a statement Thursday.
Rubio said a future Democratic president could use Trump’s method of securing a wall to impose the “Green New Deal,” which has been widely derided by Republicans.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, expressed a similar sentiment. The National Emergencies Act was intended for natural disasters or terror attacks, she said.
“It is also of dubious constitutionality, and it will almost certainly be challenged in the courts,” Collins said in a statement.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said that he was “disappointed” with Trump’s intention to declare an emergency.
I, too, want stronger border security, including a wall in some areas. But how we do things matters. Over 1,000 pages dropped in the middle of the night and extraconstitutional executive actions are wrong, no matter which party does them.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 14, 2019
Trump has flirted with declaring a national emergency to secure funds for a wall since a 35-day partial government shutdown in December and January.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that Trump would sign a spending and border security bill to avoid another looming government shutdown, but that the president would also declare a national emergency to build the wall.
McConnell also said that he would support the declaration. Other Republican senators, such as Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have also encouraged Trump to declare an emergency to build the wall.
