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Border Wall: Trump To Declare National Emergency

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United States President Donald Trump has confirmed he will use emergency powers to build a wall on the US border with Mexico.

Such a move would grant Trump vast powers and would likely be contested in Congress and in the courts.

Some members of Trump’s own Republican Party have expressed concerns about the national emergency, fearing both a degradation of the role of Congress and setting a precedent.

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Democrats have long argued there is a humanitarian issue at the border but there is no national emergency.

The national emergency comes at the end of a process which saw Trump largely lose to Congress over funding for his proposed vast expansion of the border wall.

The president had pushed the federal government into the longest shutdown in history, ending last month after 35 days.

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Trump announced his intention a day before funding for the government was again set to run out and as Congress was approving appropriations, but without cash for Trump’s wall.

He has agreed to sign the funding bill and keep the government open.

Trump is expected to take executive action to announce funding for the wall from alternative funds.

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The entire process is being denounced by Democrats as a blatant attempt to bypass Congress, which is constitutionally viewed as having the power of the purse.