Washington (CNN) A who's-who of 62 former national security officials, including former secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and John Kerry, signed an amicus brief criticizing President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration in a lawsuit challenging the proclamation.

They argue that the Trump administration created the situation on the southern border and that redirecting funds toward a wall "in the face of a nonexistent threat" will "undermine national security by needlessly pulling resources from Department of Defense programs that are responsible for keeping our troops and our country safe and running effectively."

Among those who signed the court brief are former secretaries of State and Defense, national security advisers and others including Albright, John Brennan, James Clapper, Chuck Hagel, Kerry, Lisa Monaco, Janet Napolitano, Leon Panetta, Samantha Power, and Susan Rice. The officials on the filing are primarily from Democratic administrations.

In the brief, they write, "under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the President to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border, which will take many years to complete."

"There is no reason to believe there is a terrorist or national security emergency at the southern border that could justify the President's proclamation," the brief reads.

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