President Trump announced a national emergency today to provide nearly $8 billion to build a wall to fight drugs, human traffickers and MS-13 gang members coming across our southern border. -Mat

"If you don't have a border, you don't have a country," said President Donald Trump this morning.

Congress was only willing to give $1.3 billion yesterday. So the president is pulling $600 million from drug money seized by the Treasury Department and $2.5 billion from a drug interdiction program. It also includes $3.5 billion from the Pentagon's military construction budget.

Liberty Counsel Action has been involved in top meetings with the White House pushing for increased border security and barriers.

+++ What is an emergency? 

Many are asking today, what reaches the threshold of "emergency." Past presidents have declared nearly 60 emergencies, and many are still in effect. Declared emergencies have been used to fund projects eighteen times since 2001. Here are three state-declared emergencies from just the last seven days.

• On Wednesday, Michigan's governor declared a state of emergency for a county with eight inches of snow.
• On Monday, New Jersey's governor declared a state of emergency for the entire state for a projected "few inches of snow."
• A week ago, Washington state's governor declared the whole state in an emergency because of a storm expecting 6-8" of snow.

Now when you compare that to what is happening on a national scale: Immigration officers have made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens in the last two fiscal years. That includes 4,000 illegal immigrants on charges or convictions of murder. In addition, the American Thinker researched and reported in 2015 crimes committed by illegal immigrants in America every day:

• 9 kidnappings
• 15 murders
• 43 sex offenses
• 71 burglaries and
• 131 assaults

And this is a daily average!

There are more than 70,000 Americans who died of drug overdoses in 2017 alone, that's 191 deaths per day. A significant amount of these lethal drugs come through our southern border.

In President Trump's announcement he was questioned about "inventing" this crisis. In a powerful moment, the president turned to two Angel Moms in the front row holding photos of loved ones killed by illegal immigrants and said, "Ask them."

Legal immigration is a wonderful thing! So many incredible legal immigrants enrich our nation. Our nation should be open to those who can contribute to our communities, not open to those sneaking across the border to sell drugs and people!

Liberty Counsel Action was anticipating Congress's failure in this situation and we have been working directly with the White House, urging them to build a border!

We must act to protect innocent people, increase safety, and restore our nation's security. Donate to continue our effective voice on Capitol Hill in these important battles.

Thank you for your concern for our nation!

Mat Staver

Chairman, Liberty Counsel Action

P.S. President Trump is fulfilling his promise to increase border security. Liberty Counsel Action has been active at the highest level in this important battle. Donate to keep our voice strong in Washington, DC.

https://www.lcaction.org/detail/20190215building-for-our-future