WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump intensified threats Thursday to invoke his "emergency powers" to build his border wall if Democrats don't cooperate, saying his lawyers have looked into the matter and "they tell me 100 percent" he can.
Critics have denounced the idea as abusive and unlawful, but experts on presidential powers and immigration enforcement say that Congress has granted Trump, and presidents before him, wide latitude to invoke emergency powers. He also has a sympathetic Supreme Court that has demonstrated willingness to back him in the event of a court challenge.
"Congress has left very broad powers in the hands of whoever is president to declare emergencies for reasons vague, imagined or real," said Michael Waldman, president at the Brennan Center for Justice. "And presidents have a lot of power when they do that."
