Trump is sabotaging his plan to call a national emergency on the border wall: report

President Donald Trump has routinely threatened to call a national emergency if Congress does not approve billions in funding for a wall at the US-Mexico border. However, even though Trump wants to declare a national emergency he might be messing it up for himself by his own hesitation to act.

"By giving Congress time to definitively establish its unwillingness to fund the border wall, Trump is both taking away any legitimate justification for emergency action and proving his intent to subvert the constitutional balance of powers," a report from The Atlanticsaid.

Trump wants to call a national emergency on a conflict he is willing to wait out, and after a five-week shutdown, he failed to secure funding for his wall.

"Emergency powers are not a license for the president to sidestep Congress," the report said. "To the contrary: The only powers the president can access during a national emergency are those Congress has granted."

The president reopened up the government for three weeks. He also said that after the three weeks, he would be willing to shut down the government again if an agreement on the wall is not finalized.

"Trump’s hesitation also belies his claim that there is an emergency at the border. Presidents don’t dawdle in the face of real emergencies." the report said. "Emergency powers are designed for situations in which Congress has no time to act."

Read the full report here.