Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) (Screenshot)

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) told ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopolous” on Sunday that Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer voted for the Fences Act in 2006, which includes language that would give President Donald Trump “most of the abilities and tools” needed to build the wall.



“Let’s keep in mind Chuck Schumer voted in 2006 for the Fences Act, which, by the way, the language that Chuck Schumer voted for according to Homeland Security would give them most of the abilities and tools they need to build that physical structure,” he said.





Scalise said the Democrats have “never been concerned about whether or not Mexico would pay for the wall.”



“They’ve just been against the idea of a wall. The president talked about what Mexico’s going to pay for in the new agreement that we’ve got, the new renegotiated NAFTA if you want to call it that, USMCA,” he said.



“But that doesn’t include any provision for Mexico to pay for the wall, you know that,” host George Stephanopolous said.



“Well, first of all, it hasn’t come to Congress yet. The president’s going to be submitting that. That’s never been the issue in any of the negotiations, George, it’s whether or not they would agree to any physical structure,” Scalise said.



“You can call it a wall. You can call it steel slats. The name’s not important. It’s the strength and ability to secure the border in between our ports of entry. Right now, we can control who’s coming in at ports of entry. It’s those hundreds of miles where there’s no border, there’s no wall to differentiate between the Mexico and the United States border,” he said.



Scalise said the president’s “ultimate plan is for Congress to solve this.”



“And the president’s been very clear, Congress needs to solve this. The only people that have been unwilling to put any kind of offer on the table have been Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. The president’s put multiple offers on the table,” he added.



“We don’t want it to come down to a national emergency declaration. Clearly the president’s got authority under law, but he’s said he doesn’t want it to come to that. He wants Congress to solve this problem. Congress needs to solve this problem,” Scalise said.