The president held firm on his demand for a border wall, warning that hes ready to take drastic action if necessary. Have you considered using Emergency Powers to grant yourself authorities to build this wall without congressional approval . And second yes, i have. You have . Yes, i have. And i can do it if i want. So you dont need congressional approval . No, absolutely. We can call a National Emergency because of the security of our country, absolutely. No, we can do it. I havent done it. I may do it. I may do it. But we can call a National Emergency and build it very quickly, and its another way of doing it. But if we can do it through a negotiated process, were giving that a shot. So is that a threat hanging over the democrats . Id never threaten anybody. But i am allowed to do that, yes. Laura all right. Kevin corke is live at the white house where all the action is taking place. Hi, kevin. Reporter listen, the president and white house officials tell me is unwavering in his position. Look, this could be over in a couple days, or it could last a very, very long time if he doesnt get funding for the wall. That has been his messaging publicly. And even in my conversation with Senior Administration officials, say they, kevin, if youre expecting him to move on this, youll be waiting an awful long time. That seems to be the consensus now. You also noted today, very interesting meeting just a stones throw from me over at the eeob, the Vice President among those here. The president talking about this on twitter as well. But as i tell you what he is talking about, i think youll get a sense of why the president feels so strongly and passionately about the need for a wall. Let me show you what he said on twitter. He said, we are working hard at the border, but we need a wall. And he throws some stats at you. Check this out. In 2018, 1. 7 Million Pounds of narcotics seized, 17,000 adults arrested with criminal records and 6,000 gang members including ms13 apprehended. A big Human Trafficking problem. And so for the Vice President , the Homeland Security secretary, southeastern adviser Jared Kushner and congressional staffers, yep, the it was a working group day over at the Eisenhower Executive Office building. By the way, todays meeting follows that i guess you could call it a contentious situation room gathering yesterday. The president said it was productive. The speaker, nancy pelosi, said, listen, it was a contentious, both sides agreed it certainly was not easy. Now, asked if he thought the president might be willing to, you know, move toward the democrats demands in order to restart the government, hogan giddily said no. Hes not moving because hes not going to sacrifice the safety and security of the american people. That is something he will not compromise on. How the final bill looks, im not going to negotiate here from this seat, but the president demands enough money, enough funding to protect the american people. Reporter protecting the american people, that is the cornerstone of this argument, the need for a wall. That and the safety and security of our officials who work on the border. Were talking about i. C. E. , dhs folks and, obviously, the border patrol. By the way, i should also let you know that that we have it from rah sanders, the White House Press secretary, that the president will be making his way to camp david tomorrow. Its a sure bet theyll be talking about the 2019 agenda and, indeed, looking for a way to end this nowprotracted partial shutdown which is into its 15th day. Laura . Laura all right. Kevin corke live at the white house, no such thing as a slow news day on the weekends, thats for sure. Reporter no doubt. Laura eric. Absolutely, i said that. I dont think it will, but i am prepared, and i think i can speak for republicans in the house and republicans in the senate. They feel very strongly about having a safe country, having a border that makes sense. Without borders, ive said it many times, we dont have a country. I hope it doesnt go on even beyond a few more days. It really could open very quickly. I told them bring who you want, we have three people. You can ideally bring three, but you can bring six, you can bring nine, you can bring twelve. And theyre going to be working over the weekend. I think it may have been somewhat contentious, but i think it was very productive. Eric thats President Trump, of course, yesterday confirming he told democratic minority leader senator Chuck Schumer that he is prepared to keep the shutdown going for what he claimed were months or even years, though the latter is doubtful. And as he raises the possibility of invoking president ial powers to declare a National Emergency in order to get that wall built, what are those powers invested in the chief executive, and does the president really have to wait for congress to fund it, something the Democratic House is refusing to do . Our first guest attended yesterdays rose garden news conference, correspondent jeff mason, and jeff joins us, as you can see, from the north lawn of the white house right now. Jeff, lets start with a National Emergency. What would it mean if the president , for the purposes of building this wall, would declare a National Emergency . Well, number one, it would mean that the president would invoke certain powers that he believes would allow him to go around congress and not require their approval for funding for the wall. How exactly that would work is not entirely clear. Previous president s have used Emergency Powers or declared a National Emergency during times of war. Clearly, thats something that the president is thinking about because he addressed it in that press conference yesterday. But how exactly it would work, im not, im not in a position to say. Eric yeah. I mean, theyve also been used for economic issues, for oil and for other supports and price supports and this sort of thing. Lets take a look at two points of the law as has been pointed out that gives the president this type of power. 10usc284 basically directs the defense secretary to, quote provide support for the counterdrug activities or activities to Counter Transnational Organized Crime of any department or agency of the federal government. Then theres usc2808, the secretary of defense without regard to any other provision of the law may undertake military Construction Projects that may authorize the secretaries of the military departments to undertake military Construction Projects, such projects may be undertaken only within the total a amount of funds that have been appropriated for military construction. So, jeff, would that possibly mean if they have 12 billion its believed in military outlays that they already have in hand for construction, the president has the power to move that 2 billion from whatever projects they have on military bases to the wall . Well, thats a good question, and it would be in line with what the president has said before which is that he might use military funding for that. He has certainly envisioned a role for the military at the border and could do so with the wall and finding the money to pay for that wall. Again, this was his really big Campaign Promise, primary, significant Campaign Promise in 2016. Were about two years into his presidency right now, and hes clearly drawing a line in the sand and saying im willing to do anything i have to do to make sure i get that whether its through negotiations with democrats and republicans from the hull or through extraordinary the hill or through extraordinary the measures. Eric itd likely be challenged in court. And also critics are saying its autocratic, its like a dictatorship, it certainly would be like almost a threat to democracy. I mean, does that hold any water . Its in the president ial powers. Well, it would almost certainly be challenged in court, youre absolutely right about that. And, you know, the people who are very passionate about having this wall including the president , his staff and people around him are matched by the people who are equally passionate about not having it. Both sides would work very hard either to get it or to prevent it if the president were to try to use president ial powers to make it happen. Eric meanwhile, several meetings, one in the situation room and others, certainly the telephone lines are burning up, and we just had the meeting wrapping up moments ago at the Old Executive Office building next to you. Thats right. Eric what happened, and what do you think will come out of it . Well, were not sure whats happened, because they havent the white house officials ive reached out to havent come back with day tails on it details on it yet. We saw Vice President pence was leading those talks as well as the acting chief of staff, mick mulvaney, Jared Kushner also along. From the congressional side, there were congressional aides. So its unclear. Its also not clear if theyre coming back today or if they were just breaking for lunch or if theyre done for the day. Bottom line, theyre going to have to find a compromise. We expect it to be somewhere between that 1. 3 billion that democrats have already offered for border funding versus the 5. 6 billion that President Trump says he needs to build that wall. Whether or not theyre able to find a compromise on that figure, somewhere in between, thats the Million Dollar question or the multibillion dollar eric exactly. What do you think will happen . How are they going to thread that needle . The democrats say its a fence, they dont want a wall. The president could claim whatever it is, the barriers with the slats, that would be a wall. Were showing video of the Vice President followed by Jared Kushner leaving that meeting and discussions. Jeff, how do you think this will end . Because its got to. Yeah. And i wish i knew the answer to that, you know . I think that they will continue to talk the, theres no question about that. Both sides have said they dont want the government to be shut down, but the president , of course, saying that it could stay shut down as long as years. Hes only got two years left in his term. I think its pretty hard to imagine that the government would stay shut down that long. But thats his way of saying im really serious about this. Democrats, on the other hand, are serious about it as well. Nancy pelosi has just with become speaker of the house, and she and her caucus dont have an incentive to change what they think is a critical issue, and that is to not give funding to this wall which, as she has said in the last few days, she does not consider a moral issue. Eric somethings gotta give, and well see what that is. Jeff, thank you for joining us outside my pleasure. Eric of course. Laura that. Laura a very busy week in washington went on. The 116th congress was sworn in this year including a Record Number of women and members with diverse backgrounds. Garrett tenney has more on this from washington. Reporter the freshman class of this congress includes a wave of progressive lawmakers who ran on shaking up the status quo. And just a few hours after being sworn in, rashid data look made that clear with a profanitylaced pledge to impeach President Trump that was caught on camera. Were going to go in there, were going to [bleep] reporter those overshadowed the carefully crafted message from Democratic Leaders about their majority and legislative agenda for the year ahead. A number of democrats criticized her statement as wrong and disrespectful, but talib doubled down saying, i will always speak truth to power. Party leaders are concerned that kind of talk could hurt their chances to retake the white house, but its an issue that many of these progressive lawmakers aggressively campaigned on. Another freshman making waves is alexandria ocasiocortez whos proposed a Green New Deal which aims to tackle Climate Change and income inquestion until i inequality, eliminating all industrial Greenhouse Gas emissions and paying for it by raising taxes on the most wealthy to a rate of 6070 . In an interview on 60 minutes, ocasiocortez says she welcomes the label of being radical. I think that it only has ever been radicals that have changed this country. Abraham lincoln made the radical decision to sign the emancipation proclamation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the radical decision to establish programs like social security. That is radical. Reporter President Trump lowered the top tax rate to 37 , so her plan would nearly double that, but her calls for a Green New Deal are being embraced by a number of mainstream democrats as well as including senators elizabeth juan and cory booker. This isnt an issue that will be going away anytime soon. In washington, im garrett tenney, fox news. Laura garrett, thank you so much for that report. Eric. Eric well, there was a final farewell to the California Police officer who was killed in the line of duty. Funeral Services Held this afternoon for corporal roh nil singh. Authorities say he was shot to death during a routine traffic stop one day after christmas by a man with a criminal record or or who was associated with a street gang living in our country illegally. Claudia cowan live in no deaths toe, california modesto, california, with the heartbreaking details. Reporter just a tremendous outpouring of support for Corporal Singhs family, and i want to show you a very powerful moment that is unfolding right now behind me in front of the church in modesto where Funeral Services just wrapped up. You see hundreds and hundreds of Law Enforcement officers lining the streets, preparing to salute Corporal Singh one more time as the hearse with his coffin makes its way by. And this is the culmination of a very powerful funeral where some of those who knew him best shared stories about the engaging young officer who grew up in fiji and always wanted to become a cop, a man who touched so many lyes. Lives. An overflow crowd of Law Enforcement from around the country heard about how Corporal Singh rose through the ranks and how hard he worked to improve his english and his driving skills. He apparently crashed a few patrol cars, which made people laugh. And what a great guy he was. Reggie singh said when they were growing up in fiji, ronil got hooked on the tv show cops, and together they dreamed of coming to america. People used to ask us why . Why america . Fijis beautiful. Opportunity. For rons case, who wanted to be a Law EnforcementPolice Officer in america, why . Usa has the best Police Officers. He wanted to do it in california, in america. Ronil was the type of guy that youd go out on a call with him, and when people say he always had a smile, that is so true. He would come up to you with a big smile and a handshake and always go out of his way to talk to you. Reporter Newman Police chief iran rush ardson Randy Richardson told singhs family that they are his family too and that the entire department would always be there for them. Singh overcame many obstacles, and it was during a traffic stop the day after christmas that he was killed by an illegal immigrant. In all, eight people are behind bars facing charges ranging from murder to aiding and abetting. Now, as you can see, thousands of officers will line the street here, theyll be getting into their patrol cars and on motorcycles to escort the coffin from the church where the funeral was held today to the cemetery where Corporal Singh will be laid to rest in several hours. And i can tell you, eric, all along the sevenmile procession route even today in the rain, huge crowds have gathered to pay their last respects to Corporal Singh who was just 33 years old. He leaves behind a wife, a fivemonthold son and a heart broken community. Back to you. Eric quite a moving and emotional tribute to a legal immigrant who came to our country and achieved the American Dream. Ronil singh will not be forgotten. Claudia, thank you. Laura and new details emerging now about paul whelan, the american man held on espionage charges in russia. Was his arrest part of a larger plan by the kremlin . Plus, a possible change in plans for u. S. Troops in syria. Why President Trumps decision for a total withdrawal from the wartorn country might be not so total after all. We want to protect the kurds, but i dont want to be in syria forever. Its sad. And its death. Patrick woke up with back pain. But he has work to do. So he took aleve. If hed taken tylenol, hed be st