and was talking about this power being within the president's rights as a national security issue. even though the president undercut his own claims by saying he could do it now. he could do it later. he wanted to move more quickly on building a wall and that that was part of his motivation for enacting this declaration. here is stephen miller this morning, talking about the urgency as he sees it, defending this plan. >> we already have 4,000 troops on the border in light of the national emergency, a decision made almost a year ago as we see an increasing number of people crossing the border, as well as in creasing violence in mexico. what the president is saying is, like past presidents, he could choose to ignore this crisis, choose to ignore this emergency, as others have. that's not what he's going to do. >> reporter: when you talk to senior officials in the white house, they have legal precedent they look to to, to defend this decision. they also can describe where within the budget they are planning to derive these funds