Sherry's

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency in a bid to fund his promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border without congressional approval, an action Democrats vowed to challenge as a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The Republican president's move to circumvent Congress represented an escalation in his efforts to make good on a 2016 presidential campaign pledge to build a wall to halt the flow into the country of illegal immigrants, who Trump says bring crime and drugs.
Hours after Trump's announcement, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee said it had launched an investigation into the emergency declaration.
In a letter to Trump, committee Democrats asked him to make available for a hearing White House and Justice Department officials involved in the action. They also requested legal documents on the decision that led to the declaration, setting a deadline of next Friday.
Trump on Friday also signed a bipartisan government spending bill that would prevent another partial government shutdown by funding several agencies that otherwise would have closed on Saturday.
The funding bill represented a legislative defeat for him since it contains no money for his proposed wall - the focus of weeks of conflict between him and Democrats in Congress.
He had demanded that Congress provide him with $5.7 billion in wall funding as part of legislation to fund the agencies. That triggered a historic, 35-day December-January government shutdown that hurt the U.S. economy and his opinion poll numbers.
By reorienting his quest for wall funding toward a legally uncertain strategy based on declaring a national emergency, Trump risks plunging into a lengthy legislative and legal battle with Democrats and dividing his fellow Republicans - many of whom expressed grave reservations on Friday about the president's action.
Fifteen Democrats in the Republican-controlled Senate introduced legislation on Thursday to prevent Trump from invoking emergency powers to transfer funds to his wall from accounts Congress has already committed to other projects.

華盛頓（路透社） - 總統Donald Trump上週五宣布全國性緊急狀態，以便在未經國會批准的情況下資助他在美墨邊境承諾的隔離牆，民主黨人發誓要挑戰違反美國憲法的行為。
共和黨總統為規避國會而採取的行動代表了他在2016年總統競選活動中做出的努力的升級，該競選承諾建立一堵牆以阻止非法移民進入該國，Trump稱這些非法移民帶來了犯罪和毒品。
Trump宣布後數小時，民主黨控制的眾議院司法委員會表示，它已對緊急聲明展開調查。
在致Trump的一封信中，民主黨委員會要求他參與聽證會參與此次行動的白宮和司法部官員。他們還要求提供關於導致聲明的決定的法律文件，規定下週五的截止日期。
週五Trump還簽署了一項兩黨政府支出法案，該法案將通過資助幾個本來可能在周六關閉的機構來阻止另一個部分政府關閉。
資金法案代表了他的立法失敗，因為它沒有為他的擬議隔離牆提供資金 - 這是他與國會民主黨之間數週衝突的焦點。
他曾要求國會向他提供57億美元的隔離牆資金，作為為這些機構提供資金的立法的一部分。這引發了歷史性的，為期35天的12月至1月政府關閉，這對美國經濟及其民意調查數據造成了傷害。
Trump通過重新調整牆壁資金，尋求基於宣布國家緊急狀態的法律上不確定的戰略，他冒著與民主黨人進行長期立法和法律鬥爭以及分裂他的共和黨人的風險 - 其中許多人在星期五對總統的行動表示嚴重保留。
共和黨控制的參議院中的15名民主黨人周四提出立法禁止Trump援引緊急權力，將國會已經承諾的其他項目的資金轉移到他的牆上。

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House, and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer swiftly responded to Trump's declaration.
"The president's actions clearly violate the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution," they said in a statement. "The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the courts, and in the public, using every remedy available.”
New York state's attorney general, Letitia James, said her office would also challenge Trump in court. California's governor, Gavin Newsom, also pledged to file suit.
The president acknowledged his order would face a lengthy court fight. "I expect to be sued. I shouldn't be sued ... We'll win in the Supreme Court," Trump predicted.
Both the House and the Senate could pass a resolution terminating the emergency by majority vote. However, that measure would then go to Trump, who would likely veto it. Overriding the veto would require a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
Trump says a wall is needed to curb illegal immigrants and illicit drugs coming across the border. But statistics show illegal immigration via the border is at a 20-year low and that many drug shipments come through legal ports of entry.
He estimated his emergency declaration could free up as much as $8 billion to pay for part of the wall. Estimates of its total cost run as high as $23 billion.
REPUBLICANS CONCERNED
Some congressional Republicans expressed dismay following Trump's announcement.
Greg Walden, a senior House Republican, said on Twitter he was "deeply concerned about the precedent that this action sets."
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said in a statement that Trump' declaration was not a solution.
"It wouldn't provide enough funding to adequately secure our borders, it would likely get tied up in litigation, and most concerning is that it would create a new precedent that a left-wing president would undoubtedly utilize to implement their radical policy agenda while bypassing the authority of Congress," Tillis said.
Other Republicans, such as Senator Lindsey Graham, were supportive.
With an emergency formally declared, Trump left Washington to travel to his Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Florida for a holiday break.

眾議院民主黨議員Nancy Pelosi和參議院民主黨議員Chuck Schumer默迅速回應Trump的聲明。
他們在一份聲明中說：“總統的行為顯然違反了國會對憲法所規定的錢包的專屬權力。”“國會將使用現有的每一種補救措施，在國會，法院和公眾中捍衛我們的憲法當局。”
紐約州司法部長Letitia James表示，她的辦公室也將在法庭上挑戰Trump。加州州長Gavin Newsom也承諾提起訴訟。
總統承認他的命令將面臨漫長的法庭鬥爭。“我希望被起訴。我不應該被起訴......我們將在最高法院獲勝…”Trump預測。
眾議院和參議院都可以通過決議通過多數票通過終止緊急狀態。然而，這一措施將轉向Trump，後者可能否決它。否決否決權將要求兩院投票三分之二。
Trump說，需要隔離牆來遏制非法移民和來自邊境的非法毒品。但統計數據顯示，通過邊境的非法移民處於20年來的最低點，許多毒品通過合法的入境口岸進入。
他估計他的緊急聲明可以騰出多達80億美元來支付部分隔離牆。估計其總成本高達230億美元。
共和黨人關心
Trump宣布後，一些國會共和黨人對此感到沮喪。
高級眾議院共和黨人Greg Walden在推特上表示，他“非常關注這一行動所確立的先例”。
北卡羅來納州共和黨參議員Thom Tillis在一份聲明中表示，Trump的聲明不是解決方案。
“繞過國會的權威，它無法提供足夠的資金來充分保護我們的邊界，它可能會被訴訟所束縛，最令人擔憂的是它會創造一個新的先例，左翼總統無疑會利用它來實施其激進的政策議程。” Tillis說。
其他共和黨人，如參議員Lindsey Graham，也表示支持。
在正式宣布緊急情況後，Trump離開華盛頓前往佛羅里達州的Mar-a-Lago高爾夫度假村度假。