Congress already gave Trump the power to build the wall

Nothing in our Constitution says that President Trump can bypass Congress and build a wall by declaring a national emergency. But Congress has passed multiple laws giving extraordinary powers to Trump and to every president. Congress, not the Constitution, is the source of the authority Trump is flirting with using.

Even though Article One of the Constitution gives “all legislative powers” plus control over spending to Congress, lawmakers for decades have delegated those powers to presidents.