Sen. Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump's decision to declare a national emergency at the southern border was legal and justified. | Alex Wong/Getty Images National Emergency Graham: I 'support' Trump emergency declaration

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday expressed support for President Donald Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency, saying Trump’s admission that he “didn’t need to” invoke his emergency powers did not weaken the White House’s claim that there is a crisis at the southern border.

“I really don't think so,” Graham (R-S.C.) told host Margaret Brennan in an interview set to air Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”


“I think the president's been making a persuasive case that the border is broken, you know,” he said. “Drugs are flowing across the border killing Americans, human trafficking. We've got a dangerous situation along the border.”

Trump on Friday announced his emergency declaration to fund construction of a wall along the southern border. During a news conference in the White House Rose Garden, the president said: “I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn’t need to do this.”

Congressional Democrats have seized upon those remarks as evidence that the rate of illegal immigration from Mexico does not constitute an emergency. The liberal advocacy group Public Citizen on Friday filed the first of what is likely to be many lawsuits challenging the White House’s maneuver, arguing that Trump used the declaration to circumvent lawmakers in violation of the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution.

But Graham on Saturday said the president’s actions were legal and justified.

“I think the president has the authority to deploy troops to the border. Obama did. Bush did. Trump has,” he said. “And I think he has the authority while they're there to build barriers, and we'll see. I support his desire to get it done sooner rather than later."

The Democratic-controlled House is expected to pass a resolution rebuking the president’s national emergency declaration within weeks. The measure would then head to the Senate, where several of the chamber’s 53 Republicans have expressed unease with the precedent Trump’s decision sets.

“Congress is locked down and will not give him what we've given past presidents,” Graham said. “So unfortunately, he's got to do it on his own, and I support his decision to go that route."