Completion of the project would further integrate the St. Louis facility, and its hundreds of high-tech employees, into the U.S. national security apparatus.

Trump’s emergency declaration is already being challenged in court by California and more than a dozen other states.

Until Monday’s release, the political back and forth over potential projects that could see money diverted for a border wall came from Democratic staff lists on Capitol Hill. The Defense Department memo expands that argument out of the realm of pure partisanship, although it also intensifies the criticism.

“What President Trump is doing is a slap in the face to our military that makes our border and the country less secure,” Reed said in a statement issued by his office.

Trump’s declaration split Missouri’s two senators. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., voted against the resolution of disapproval, and said Trump was reacting to a legitimate national crisis.

In a fundraising letter sent Monday, Hawley touted his vote in support of Trump, and wrote: “If this isn’t an emergency, I don’t know what is.”