1/ Trump declared a national emergency at the border to circumvent Congress and fund his border wall with money lawmakers refused to give him, saying “I didn’t need to do this,� but “I just want to get it done faster, that’s all.� In a Rose Garden news conference, Trump said he would sign the declaration to divert $3.6 billion from military construction projects to his border wall and then use presidential budgetary discretion to redirect $2.5 billion from counternarcotics programs and another $600 million from a Treasury Department asset forfeiture fund. Between the $1.375 billion authorized for fencing in a spending package passed by Congress, and the roughly $6.5 billion in funding from executive action, Trump is will have about $8 billion to construct or repair as many as 234 miles of a border barrier – significantly more than the $5.7 billion that Congress refused to give him. Following the news conference, Trump signed the spending legislation. (New York Times / The Guardian / Politico / Washington Post / NBC News / ABC News)

Capitol Police pushed and physically blocked reporters from talking with Senators headed to vote on the spending package last night, despite some lawmakers willing to engage with the press. (Roll Call)

The White House announced the national emergency by tweet using the iPhone Notes app. (BuzzFeed News)

Trump’s national emergency press conference, annotated. (Washington Post)

Trump’s bizarre, rambling national emergency announcement distracted from what the president actually did. (The Atlantic)

In November 2014, Trump called taking executive action on immigration dangerous, unconstitutional, and impeachable. (CNN)

2/ The Justice Department warned the White House that a national emergency declaration is nearly certain to be blocked by the courts, which would prevent the immediate implementation of Trump’s plan to circumvent Congress and build the wall using his executives powers. (ABC News)

3/ House Democra...