A federal judge has reportedly partially blocked President Trump's funding plan for the border wall construction.
A federal judge has partially blocked President Trump's plan to use Defense Department money under a national emergency declaration to fund parts of the border wall with Mexico.
In the ruling, U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. argued that the president could not proceed because he did not get Congress's approval, writing: "The position that when Congress declines the Executive's request to appropriate funds, the Executive nonetheless may simply find a way to spend those funds 'without Congress' does not square with fundamental separation of powers principles dating back to the earliest days of our Republic."
The judge's decision, which came down Friday, puts an immediate stop to two projects encompassing 51 miles of barrier along the border.
"The ruling quoted from a Fox News interview with Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, in which he said that the wall 'is going to get built, with or without Congress,'" notes the New York Times.