Blunt, Moran among 12 Republicans who reject Trump’s border wall emergency declaration

Two area Republican US Senators joined Democrats in passing a resolution that would terminate President Trump’s declaration on a 59-41 vote Thursday.

Missouri’s Roy Blunt and Kansas’ Jerry Moran were among 12 Republican senators who rejected Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southwest border. Trump declared the emergency so he could steer $3.6 billion more to border barriers than Congress approved. He has declared he will veto the resolution. “I’ll do a veto. It’s not going to be overturned,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s a border security vote.”

“I fully support President Trump’s commitment to secure the border and build physical barriers wherever they are needed. I have repeatedly said that securing the border has to be the first step in addressing our immigration issues. There are several existing authorities that could be used to support what President Trump wants to do at the border without creating a court case or declaring an emergency. I have encouraged him to use those authorities,” said Blunt.

“This issue will be settled in the courts. That could take months and result in future Presidents having emergency authority to use in other ways. Democrats have already made clear that they believe they could use this same authority to impose policies like gun control or the Green New Deal. Those decisions should not be made without congressional action. I was aggressively opposed to the Obama administration’s attempts to circumvent Congress’s appropriating authority to prop up Obamacare. The same principle should apply regardless of which party occupies the White House,” added Blunt.

“I share President Trump’s goal of securing our borders, but expanding the powers of the presidency beyond its constitutional limits is something I cannot support,” said Moran.

Senators Josh Hawley and Pat Roberts voted against the measure.

AP contributed to this article