Los Angeles, Feb 16 (IANS): California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to sue the Donald Trump administration over the President's declaration of a national emergency to access funds for building a wall on the Mexican border.
"President Trump is manufacturing a crisis and declaring a made-up 'national emergency' in order to seize power and subvert the constitution. This 'emergency' is a national disgrace, and the blame lays solely at the feet of the President," Newsom said in a statement on Friday hours after Trump's declaration, Xinhua reported.
"Meanwhile, he plans to shut down and divert funds used by California law enforcement that run counter-narcotics operations and fight drug cartels to build his wall. Our message back to the White House is simple and clear --California will see you in court," the Democratic Governor added.
Newsom and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra did not mention when they would file the lawsuit at a press conference in Sacramento, the capital city of California.
"Fortunately, Donald Trump is not the last word, the courts will be the last word," said Newsom at the press conference.
Becerra said California is being called upon to act, noting that they held the press conference because the important matters impacting the state of California and American people.
"He can't do this, because the US Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the powers to direct dollars, the powers of the purse," he added.
Trump announced earlier on Friday that he will sign a national emergency to build the US-Mexico border wall and push for his signature campaign promise. The move gave the president power to bypass US Congress to get access to money, but it sparked a new round of legal and partisan battles almost immediately.
The White House plans to redirect $3.6 billion in military construction funding toward the border project, re-purposing about $2.5 billion from the Defense Department's drug-interdiction programme and $600 million from the Treasury Department's asset-forfeiture fund.