White House lawyers are preparing legal justification for a national emergency at the southern US border which would allow President Trump to build his wall.

" WH counsel's office is prepping legal justification for national emergency, including advising WH to ramp up talk of a humanitarian & security "crisis”," tweeted CNN Chief National Security Correspondent, Jim Sciutto, adding "WH lawyers say the more the term is used, the more citations they will have in filing legal defense"

Here you go: WH counsel's office is prepping legal justification for national emergency, including advising WH to ramp up talk of a humanitarian & security "crisis”. WH lawyers say the more the term is used, the more citations they will have in filing legal defense -CNN reporting — Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 10, 2019

On Thursday, President Trump tweeted a clip of former President Obama saying there is "an actual humanitarian crisis on the border that only underscores the need to drop the politics and fix our immigration system once and for all.

President Obama, thank you for your great support – I have been saying this all along! pic.twitter.com/L506g9Aq4z — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2019

On Wednesday, Axios reported that the national emergency route is still the most likely option for the president, citing one source close to the president.

That is, assuming Trump can quash a growing rebellion among Senate Republicans who are leaning toward backing the Democrats' proposal: Pass a funding bill to end the shutdown then work out a separate compromise on border security (a solution that would almost certainly guarantee that Trump's border wall never gets built).

A source close to President Trump tells Jonathan Swan that he thinks a declaration of a national emergency at the border - which Trump stopped short of last night - remains the most likely ultimate option, because of the latitude it gives the president. Yes, but: Conservatives, including sources in the conservative legal orbit surrounding Trump, don’t like what they view as an abuse of this authority.

And while the White House is apparently focusing on peppering the word "crisis" throughout their talking points, the left has gotten their marching orders, calling the wall Trump's "vanity project."