Estimated $8 billion will go toward southern border security plan

U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency Friday, Feb. 15, after receiving $1.3 billion to fund border security efforts instead of the $5.7 billion he asked for, NPR reported.

The declaration of emergency will allow the president to put around $8 billion toward security efforts at the southern border, including his infamous wall.

Along with the $1.3 billion from Congress, Trump will use $600 million from the Treasury drug forfeiture fund, more than $2 billion from the Department of Defense and around $3.6 billion from military construction funds to fund border security.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, released a statement that called this declaration “unlawful” and accused Trump of “stealing from urgently needed defense funds.”

Trump was quoted on npr.org saying that he didn’t need to declare the state of emergency, but that “I just want to get it done faster.”