Nine Democrat presidential hopefuls took to Twitter to express opposition to securing the southern U.S. border with Mexico through the declaration of a national emergency, ranging from claiming climate change is a greater threat than illegal immigration to saying President Trump is the real problem.

After signing the so-called compromise border funding bill, Trump announced he would declare a national emergency to use funding from several federal resources to pay for the wall construction.

Democrats and leftist, including those who hope to replace him in the White House, immediately launched attacks on the president. Their charges ranged from accusing Trump of causing a constitutional crisis to claiming money could be better spent on other things, such as gun control:

We should do something about the actual emergencies that plague our nation — like climate change or health care access — not playing politics in order to build a wasteful border wall. — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 15, 2019

Declaring a national emergency over this President's vanity project is ridiculous. We don't need a wall. Instead, we should address the actual emergencies facing our country — everything from gun violence to the opioid crisis. — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 14, 2019

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." My new bill would stop him from using disaster recovery funds for his pet project. https://t.co/zSPp4INty3 — Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2019

The American people, the Congress and the courts must show Trump what the Constitution and separation of powers is about. Trump cannot declare a "national emergency" whenever he wants, and spend money on his pet project. Not gonna happen! — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 15, 2019

There is not a "national emergency" with regard to the southern border. What President Trump is doing is unlawful and must be opposed vigorously in the courts and legislatively. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 14, 2019

We don't need an emergency declaration, troops deployed, or additional border walls and fencing at a time of record safety and security along the U.S.-Mexico border. https://t.co/2zjiHx851a — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) February 15, 2019

Let's be clear on this: The only emergency at our border is the humanitarian one Trump created himself, by demonizing and ripping apart families. This manufactured crisis is racist, wasteful, and an outrageous abuse of power from someone too reckless and hateful to hold it. — Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) February 15, 2019

These are all real emergencies that Trump does nothing about. But now, like a child who again has failed to get his way, Trump is trying to ignore the Constitution to build his unnecessary wall. Donald Trump is the real national emergency. — Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) February 15, 2019

More than a million hardworking truck drivers, miners and others are at risk of losing the retirement they earned because of Wall Street greed. That’s an emergency. — Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) February 15, 2019

Bridges across the country are structurally deficient. Roads are in need of repair. Communities are being poisoned by their own water. Now that's an emergency. — Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) February 15, 2019

Donald Trump says he doesn't believe climate change is real, even though it is the greatest moral threat of our time. Climate change is a real national emergency. — Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) February 15, 2019

The opioid epidemic has claimed thousands of lives, in Ohio, killing 11 people every single day. Trump called that a national emergency—but he's done very little about it. — Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) February 15, 2019

Trump’s own tax law encourages companies like GM to close factories, eliminate jobs, and ship work overseas—leaving thousands of Americans without jobs. That's a real national emergency. — Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) February 15, 2019

In just the last year 1,200 kids have been shot—too often in communities of color that get ignored. Gun violence is a real national emergency. — Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) February 15, 2019

Unilaterally declaring a national emergency to build a wall to appease Trump's political base is politics at its worst. Diverting money away from areas where it's needed is government at its worst. This is no way to run a country. — Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 14, 2019

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. Who needs Congress or the people if the president can make the decision on issues by himself? Very dangerous precedent. — Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) February 14, 2019

We no longer have 3 co-equal branches of government. The President, in taking money designated by Congress for other needs to build his senseless wall, has voided the voice of the people. The real national emergency is the constitutional crisis the President just instigated. — Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) February 15, 2019

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