President Trump is due to use emergency powers to pay for a border wall with Mexico.
The declaration comes after congress refused to approve $5.7bn (£4.4bn) for the wall, a key pledge in President Trump’s election campaign.
His decision has been strongly criticised by both Democratic and Republican politicians, with senior Democrats accusing the president of a ‘gross abuse of power’.
Declaring a national emergency would give President Trump access to billions of dollars for his project.
The president agreed on Thursday to sign a spending bill that does not include finance for the wall. Previous disagreement over the issue led to a 35 day government shutdown early this year, the longest in US history.
Trump admits Mexico is not paying for his wall: “We have a lot of money in this country, and we’re using some of that money, a small percentage of that money, to build the wall.” pic.twitter.com/pMZE3Vg7lY
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 12, 2019
The spending bill is due to be signed shortly to prevent another shutdown and sources say the president plans to sign the emergencies act at the same time.
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