Retired Pennsylvania Republican congressman Charlie Dent told CNN on Thursday that President Donald Trump would "rue the day" he declared a national emergency to get funding for his border wall -- and that for the foreseeable future, the president would have to "literally beg" Congress for even a nickel.
Dent said that the only reason the Republicans backed the president was because of "real base pressure" and "complaints" from conservative activists. "I suspect that might have been a motivating factor for a number of these Republicans to vote against this resolution, because there really is no good explanation for it," he said. "As an institution, Congress has to stand up for itself."
"For the president to be able to reallocate or reprogram dollars without congressional approval to the magnitude he has," Dent went on, pointing to the sheer scale of Trump's funding grab, "this is a big deal."
"What's going to happen now the president is going to rue this day, tell you why," an "astounded" Dent continued. "He needs the cooperation of Congress to reallocate and reprogram money, to transfer money. That cooperation is going to go out the window because of this emergency declaration."
He said federal agencies would become a funding bottleneck, "good will and faith and trust" dry up.
"Now he's going to have to beg, literally, for any time he wants to move a nickel," Dent said. "This is a short sighted victory for the president."
Watch the video below.
