The following editorial is an edition of Fireside Chats with Ryan, a political editorial column. All views, thoughts and opinions belong solely to the author and do not represent those of The Drury Mirror. 

On Friday, Feb. 15, President Donald Trump announced during a press conference held in the White House Rose Garden that he would be declaring the situation at our southern border a national emergency.

The move, which Trump had hinted he would execute after his defeat against Congress during the month-long government shutdown, would move around 8 billion dollars in funding from other government agencies to fund the construction of a wall.

The idea that President Trump would be willing to use a national emergency to get the funding for his wall is in itself hypocritical; in the past Trump has used Twitter and news interviews to condemn former President Obama’s use of national emergencies.

“The whole concept of executive order—it’s not the way the country is supposed to be run. He’s supposed to go through Congress and make a deal and go and talk to people and get the guys in there and, you know, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, is supposed to all get together. He’s supposed to make a deal, but he couldn’t make a deal, because it’s not his thing,” said Trump in a 2015 interview.

Despite President Trump’s criticism of former President Obama, this hasn’t stopped him from issuing four executive orders during his presidency, ranging from topics such as the border wall to placing economic sanctions on former Nicaraguan government officials.

One thing that baffles me is the fact that the American people have said time and time again that they don’t want a border wall; polls put support for the border wall anywhere between 35-45 percent, while as many as 65 percent of the country are opposed.

One thing that is astounding is the fact that President Trump has acknowledged the fact that declaring the national emergency for the wall isn’t necessary.

“I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster,” said Trump during the Rose Garden Press Release. “I just want to get it done faster, that’s all.”

So, there isn’t really a national emergency at our border with Mexico; if there were one, President Trump would have declared the emergency two months ago, instead of shutting down the government for more than a month and putting hundreds of thousands of government workers at risk.

The clear picture is that this isn’t a true national emergency; it’s just Trump pandering to newscasters who criticized him for folding during the shutdown and his rabid supporters. Thankfully, a number of states have already challenged the motion in court, and with any luck we’ll see the matter put to bed quickly.

Written by Ryan Smith.