The president’s decision to pull back from his threat to declare an emergency indicates the White House is bracing for the partial government shutdown over the wall, now in its 21st day, to drag on.

Trump told reporters at the White House that he has the authority to make an emergency declaration to jump-start wall construction, but said, “I’m not going to do it so fast.”

ADVERTISEMENT “It's the easy way out, but Congress should do this,” he said, adding he would “rather not” declare an emergency because it could face court challenges that would delay wall construction for months.

The president stressed that he prefers to work out a deal with Democrats in Congress, even though no agreement appears to be in sight. Democrats have repeatedly rejected Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding and the president has refused to sign legislation to reopen the government without the money.

“We want Congress to do its job,” Trump said. “What we're not looking to do right now is national emergency.”

He implored Democrats to return to Washington to vote on wall funding, saying they can call the structure whatever they want.

“They can name it peaches. I don’t care what they name it,” he quipped.

Trump had said for days that he was leaning toward declaring a national emergency to speed up construction of the wall, and his administration had begun internal discussions about how to proceed.

During a border visit Thursday that many in Washington saw as a precursor to an emergency declaration, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that “if we don’t make a deal with Congress, most likely I will do that.”

The White House meanwhile is actively making preparations for the shutdown to last weeks longer, an administration official confirmed to The Hill.

The Office of Management and Budget is gearing up for the partial shutdown to continue through February, and aides have discussed using Trump's Jan. 29 State of the Union address to admonish Democrats over their opposition to the wall.