"What is clear in the Senate is that there will be enough votes to pass the resolution of disapproval, which will then be vetoed by the president and then in all likelihood the veto will be upheld in the House," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo National Emergency McConnell: Senate will pass resolution blocking Trump’s border emergency The Senate majority leader had urged the president not to declare a national emergency after Congress rejected his demands to fund the wall.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Monday that the Senate will pass a resolution blocking President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration on the southern border.

The Kentucky Republican’s comments underscore his inability to shield the president from a bipartisan rebuke, though McConnell added that he expected the House to uphold the president’s veto.


McConnell’s Kentucky GOP colleague Rand Paul became the fourth Republican senator to join 47 Senate Democrats in supporting the House-passed disapproval resolution, which needs a simple majority to go to Trump’s desk. The Senate will vote later this month on the measure to stop Trump from unilaterally redirecting billions toward his border wall.

“What is clear in the Senate is that there will be enough votes to pass the resolution of disapproval, which will then be vetoed by the president and then in all likelihood the veto will be upheld in the House," McConnell said at an event in Louisville, Ky.

McConnell said Senate Republicans are studying whether it can amend the resolution but that “it’s never been done before,” and their options are unclear.

McConnell also made clear he tried to dissuade Trump from declaring the emergency, arguing that future Democratic presidents could use it to further liberal policy proposals: “That’s one reason I argued without success that he not take this route.”

“I was one of those hoping the president would not take the national emergency route,” McConnell said. “Once he decided to do that I said I would support it, but I was hoping he wouldn’t take that particular path.”

