White House Backs President Trump's National Emergency Declaration

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The White House on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart illegal immigration even though he said he didn't need to do it.

"He could choose to ignore this crisis, but he chose not to," Trump adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, told Fox News Sunday.

Miller assailed former Republican President George W. Bush for an "astonishing betrayal" of the U.S. nearly two decades ago when four times as many illegal migrants were entering the United States as now. But Miller said the "bottom line" is that "you cannot conceive of a strong nation without a secure border."

He said Trump's action is "defending our own borders." He illegal immigration "is a threat in our country."

Miller said Trump's actions were justified under a 1976 law giving presidents authority to declare national emergencies, although none of the 59 declared since then has involved instances when a president has attempted to override congressional refusal to approve funding for a specific proposal.

Trump declared the national emergency on Friday to circumvent Congress, which had refused his request for $5.7 billion in wall funding, even as it approved $1.375 billion for barriers along about 90 kilometers of the 3,200-kilometer border. Trump plans to tap more than $8 billion in government funds authorized for other projects the build the wall, although lawsuits challenging the action are already being filed to block his transfer of money.