Invoking presidential emergency powers gives the president the ability to go around Congress and unlock federal funding to crack down at the border.

The misuse of power under Donald Trump is to be taken for granted. Monday’s list of executive actions on behalf of the fossil-fuel industry was entirely expected—this time around, there is no hesitation about withdrawing from the Paris climate accord (a decision that took four months in his first term),

President Trump has declared an energy emergency, which his team has said would unlock additional powers to jump-start production. Speaking about the declaration from behind the desk of the Oval