Republican Congressman Thomas Massie jumped across the aisle to support a Democratic-led measure on Tuesday that would terminate President Donald Trump's emergency declaration at the U.S. southern border.

"There is a crisis at our border, but it’s not an emergency when Congress doesn’t spend money how the president wants," Massie, whose district stretches across northern Kentucky, said on Twitter, hours ahead of the vote Tuesday evening.

"The president’s constitutional remedy is to veto spending bills that aren’t suitable to him, yet he has chosen to sign many bills that did not fund the wall,” he added.

House Democrats were able to get the resolution through by a 245-182 vote. More than 230 Democrats were joined by 13 Republicans in favor of the measure, while all the votes against came from the GOP.

If both chambers of Congress approve the proposal it would block the emergency declaration. But Trump has vowed to veto the resolution as his administration searches for budget maneuvers to fund additional barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Of Kentucky’s six congressional representatives, Massie was one the only Republican who got behind the resolution. He joined the Bluegrass delegation’s lone Democrat, John Yarmuth, who was among the more than 225 Democratic lawmakers who co-sponsored the resolution.

“President Trump may not fully understand the Constitution, but it is still his sworn duty to uphold it,” Yarmuth, who represents Louisville, said in a statement. “Declaring a fake national emergency to fulfill a campaign promise on a border wall is not only a subversion of the will of Congress and the American people, it is also unconstitutional.”

But U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, who represents central Kentucky, said Trump — who helped boost his re-election campaign last fall — is using his presidential authority properly to secure the border.

"This national emergency declaration would not have been necessary if Democrats worked in good faith to fund commonsense border security," Barr said in a statement, "but the president and Republicans in Congress are committed to prioritizing the interests of the American people over partisan political games."

You may like:Mitch McConnell is in a 'perpetual bind' thanks to Trump, Yarmuth says

Massie is a libertarian-leaning Republican who often is an outlier vote on government spending and constitutional matters. He was among a handful of representatives who voted against giving back pay to federal workers impacted by the government shutdown saying the bill would, "make it easier for politicians to cause future shutdowns."

Trump made the emergency declaration about the border after Congress allocated $1.3 billion for the wall, which is far less than the $5.7 billion he wanted. The fight over wall funding was at the center of a historic 35-day federal government shutdown.

Massie said he supports Trump and the border wall but reminded constituents in another tweet Tuesday that he called out former President Barack Obama when he tried to use executive orders to sidestep Congress on using military might, immigration, health care and gun control.

"In order to be consistent in preserving the constitutional structure of our republic, I will be voting for the resolution to prevent the president from using a national emergency declaration to re-appropriate money for the wall," Massie said.

The Senate must now take up the resolution within 18 calendar days because of the provisions of the National Emergencies Act.

That has the potential to split Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s 53-member caucus. Many GOP senators, including the Kentucky leader, have voiced discomfort with the president using a national emergency to get funding for his wall.

Read this:Kentucky Democrat 'enraged' by House resolution backing Trump's immigration emergency

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/philb.