President Donald Trump plans to sign a compromise border security measure Friday and then announce that he is using executive action, including declaring a national emergency, to spend $8 billion for his border wall, a White House official said.
The move will end, for now, a bitter standoff with Congress over his signature campaign promise. But it will likely spark a new constitutional dispute over whether the President is overstepping his authority.
The initial news of Trump’s decision came via Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Trump would sign the bill to avoid a shutdown and then declare a national emergency at the same time.
The White House official says Trump is expected to announce that he will use executive action to draw on a variety of administration funding sources to help finance construction of his wall on the border. A national emergency declaration is expected to be one part of that.
The official confirmed the President is set to announce the total amount to be in the range of $8 billion. The official did not specify where all of that money would come from or whether the White House executive action would withstand a court challenge. Democrats are likely to take the matter to court. READ MORE: