California AG says state will ‘definitely and imminently’ sue Trump over national emergency declaration

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Sunday that the state would “definitely and imminently” file a lawsuit against the Trump administration over President Trump’s move to declare a national emergency to construct a border wall. 

“We are prepared,” Becerra said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We knew something like this might happen … We are ready to go.”

NEW: California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says the state will file a lawsuit “definitely and imminently” against the Trump administration over the president’s recent national emergency declaration. https://t.co/lASC3jt1A4 pic.twitter.com/f8Q4TdYzOX

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 17, 2019

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra: “It’s become clear that this is not an emergency, not only because no one believes it is, but because Donald Trump himself has said it’s not.” https://t.co/LEm5HAP9a0 pic.twitter.com/Io6PRa0BlE

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 17, 2019

Asked where specifically Trump has overstepped his bounds, Becerra said that Trump himself acknowledged that “he did not need to announce or declare a crisis.”{mosads}

“He did not have to call this an emergency,” Becerra added. “He has also said he knows he’s going to lose in court. And he’s hoping that he can count on a conservative court in the Supreme Court to give him a victory because he knows he’s going to lose all the way up the ladder of the federal court system.

“It’s become clear that this is not an emergency, not only because no one believes it is, but because Donald Trump himself has said it’s not.”

Trump on Friday declared a national emergency to allocate nearly $8 billion for construction of his long-sought border wall. The president made the announcement from the Rose Garden as he agreed to sign a spending bill without the $5 billion in funds for a border wall he had demanded. 

Trump acknowledged that the declaration would likely face legal challenges, saying that it may get some bad rulings before ending up in the Supreme Court. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) had already announced plans to sue Trump. 

“President Trump is manufacturing a crisis and declaring a made-up ‘national emergency’ in order to seize power and subvert the constitution,” Newsom said in a statement hours after the president’s declaration. “Our message back to the White House is simple and clear: California will see you in court.”