Democratic 2020 candidates slam Trump's national emergency plan: 'Closer to a dictatorship'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A slew of Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls on Thursday condemned the Trump administration after the White House announced that in addition to signing a border security compromise package the president would also declare a national emergency to acquire funding for his campaign-promised wall at the nation’s southern border.
“President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action -- including a national emergency -- to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Constructing a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border was a signature campaign promise from Trump during his campaign for the White House. It has since proved to be a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats.
California Sen. Kamala Harris slammed Trump on Twitter, calling the national emergency maneuver “ridiculous” and labeled his sought-after barrier his “vanity project.”
“We don't need a wall. Instead, we should address the actual emergencies facing our country — everything from gun violence to the opioid crisis,” she wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WHAT IS A ‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY,’ AND HOW CAN TRUMP USE IT TO FUND BORDER WALL?
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., echoed that sentiment.
“Gun violence is an emergency. Climate change is an emergency. Our country's opioid epidemic is an emergency,” she tweeted. “Donald Trump's ridiculous wall is not an emergency.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In a separate tweet, she also accused the president of "throwing a temper tantrum."
"Mexico wouldn't pay for @realDonaldTrump's wall. Congress wouldn't fully fund it. So now he's throwing a temper tantrum and declaring a 'national emergency,'" she tweeted.
Declaring a national emergency would be “an outrageous abuse of power,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. tweeted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Drop the absurd wall and do your job,” she wrote.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Corey Booker also weighed in, tweeting that the president’s “inability to follow through on a campaign promise is not a national emergency.”
And Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii labeled the move a "very dangerous precedent."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Every time a president declares a 'national emergency' in order to get his way on a particular issue, the closer we are to a dictatorship," she tweeted. "Who needs Congress or the people if the president can make the decision on issues by himself?"
Fox News’ Alex Pappas contributed to this report.