Sixteen state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in California’s Northern District against President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to pay for a wall along the southern border.

 

The lawsuit states that the emergency declaration shows a “flagrant disregard for the separation of powers. … President Trump has veered the country toward a constitutional crisis of his own making.”

 

On February 15, 2019, Trump declared a state of emergency on the southern border and directed $8.1 billion to build a border wall.

 

The lawsuit was filed by Democratic attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Virginia. They said that the emergency declaration would cause their states to lose millions in federal funding and cause environmental damage.

 

At the time of the filing, the following states with Democratic attorneys general did not join the lawsuit: Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin.

 

“The states’ lawsuit is likely to stall the implementation of the emergency declaration and generate protracted legal battles that could land before the conservative-dominated Supreme Court. The case may not be resolved before 2020, potentially making Mr. Trump’s plan an issue in the next presidential election,” according to The Wall Street Journal.