Updated at 2:12 p.m.: Revised to include additional comments from Texas lawmakers and residents.

WASHINGTON — Reaction from Texas to President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency over border wall funding was swift Friday. Democrats and border activists said they would seek ways to stop it.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, has been vocal against Trump’s decision to declare an emergency. Castro took to Twitter on Friday to question why the president would need to take some vacation time after his declaration.

Since when does a President head to a vacation resort during a “National Emergency?” #FakeEmergency — Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 15, 2019

In an interview Thursday on CNN after it was hinted that Trump would make the declaration, Castro said he would be working to file a joint resolution to terminate Trump’s declaration.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, tweeted Friday that she is working with Castro on legislation.

.@JoaquinCastrotx and I aren’t going to let the President declare a fake national emergency without a fight. https://t.co/iPlcVVsm6U — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 15, 2019

El Paso reaction

Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said in a statement released Friday that the president's decision hurts military readiness and would take away more than $275 million from Fort Bliss in her district. She went on to say Trump's decision "promotes an erroneous narrative that portrays all border communities as a problem."

Texas state Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, chairman of the Texas Border Caucus, said in a statement that the president’s declaration is “dangerous and radical.”

“This declaration is a dangerous step into dark territory for a president that acts on his worst political impulses," Blanco said. “He has trampled on the rule of law and disregarded accepted facts, even from military generals, the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community.”

The latest announcement from the president is the latest irritant for many El Paso residents.

Thousands of people commute daily between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso to work, or have families on both sides of the border. The connectivity is something residents have long said neither Washington nor Mexico City understands, appreciates or sees as an opportunity instead of a weakness.

Armando Carmona makes a living by transporting clients from El Paso and driving them across the Mexican border to Benito Juarez International Airport. As news blared of the pending measure, Carmona shook his head in disgust.

"His rhetoric is poisonous," he said. "I'm already noticing a decline in people who want to cross into Juarez. I took a group last week as they were afraid and when I opened the door to the van, they suspiciously looked around. I asked, 'Is everything OK?' One woman said, 'I'm looking to see where the bodies are.'"

"This president has no idea the impact this is already having on our economy," he said. "He's irresponsible."

GOP reaction

Congress passed legislation Thursday after the president disclosed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that he would sign the bill and declare a national emergency to fund the rest of his wall.

Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, is not happy with everything in the bill but agreed with the president's decision to declare an emergency.

"I have always believed that the situation at our border constituted a 'national emergency,' and am glad to see the President using his authority to address the legal and humanitarian crisis occurring there," he said in a statement after the House vote Thursday.

Trump plans to siphon billions of dollars from military construction and counter-drug efforts to build the wall. He discussed during his news conference Friday questions surrounding legal battles as the administration tries to seize private property using eminent domain.

This was POTUS doing a riff on how he'll face lawsuits over a national emergency in a sing-song voice. https://t.co/ynjCHnuPhw — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 15, 2019

Likely to be used in future lawsuits: Trump on his national emergency declaration: "I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster ... I just want to get it done faster." Via CNN pic.twitter.com/HcPrQdhRJ9 — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 15, 2019

San Antonio Republican Will Hurd, whose district includes 800 miles along the Texas-Mexico border, said during an interview on The View on ABC just how people in his district will react.

"They're going to sue because in the great state of Texas, we care about a little thing called 'private property rights,'" he said.

Advocacy groups to sue

The Border Network for Human Rights, an immigration reform and human advocacy group based in El Paso, announced it would be filing a lawsuit over the emergency declaration.

The National Butterfly Center in the Rio Grande Valley has been fighting the Trump administration for the past year over the planned barrier running through its property. The center filed a restraining order this week to keep federal agents and contractors off the property.

The deal signed by the president does include protections for the butterfly center and other wildlife areas in southern Texas. However, the center's executive director, Marianna Treviño-Wright, fears it is “not out of the woods” yet.

Treviño-Wright said the emergency action and the start of a new federal fiscal year on Oct. 1 could put the butterfly center back in the fight against new efforts to build a wall through the property.

"We'll be back at the budget battle in six months," she told The Dallas Morning News this week.

Border-Mexico correspondent Alfredo Corchado contributed to this report.