Poll: Large majority opposes emergency declaration for border wall

A large majority of Americans surveyed in a new poll opposes President Trump’s emergency declaration to secure billions of dollars in funding for a border wall.
The Monmouth University Poll released Thursday showed that almost two-thirds of adults — 64 percent — disapprove of Trump’s declaration, while 33 percent support it. The results are largely unchanged from January, when 64 percent disapproved of the resolution and 34 percent approved.
{mosads}The poll also showed that a slim majority of respondents still opposes the building of a wall on the southern border. Fifty-one percent of those polled oppose Trump’s signature campaign promise, while 44 percent support it. Another 4 percent are unsure.
The poll comes as the Senate is set to rebuke the president and pass a resolution blocking the emergency declaration. Four Republican senators have already declared they will support the resolution, joining the Senate’s 47 Democrats to push the legislation over the needed 51-vote threshold. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of the GOP defectors, said that as many as 10 more Republicans could vote to approve the House-passed resolution.
Trump has vowed to veto the resolution, and it is unlikely either chamber of Congress will be able to muster Republican support to overrule the president. Regardless, having to use his first veto on a bipartisan rebuke of his key immigration promise would be embarrassing for Trump.
The White House is waging a pressure campaign to prevent more Republicans from supporting the resolution.
“Senate Republicans are not voting on constitutionality or precedent, they are voting on desperately needed Border Security & the Wall. Our Country is being invaded with Drugs, Human Traffickers, & Criminals of all shapes and sizes. That’s what this vote is all about. STAY UNITED!” Trump tweeted Wednesday.
Trump declared the emergency last month to allocate roughly $8 billion for barriers along the Mexican border. He expressed frustration with a congressional funding bill that failed to meet his demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday that further influxes of migrants could “overwhelm” the immigration system and that an emergency declaration was necessary to combat the crisis.
Monmouth University surveyed 802 adults from March 1-4. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
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