This allowed him to invoke emergency powers and reallocate as much as $8.1bn (£6.2bn) in federal funding without consulting Congress, a move that has already been the subject of a resolution of disapproval in the House of Representatives and which will face a vote in the Senate this week. Taken together, the president appears to be seeking access to a whopping $16.7bn (£12.8bn) for the construction of the wall, although it is highly unlikely he'll ever get his hands on anything like that amount.