NY joins lawsuit challenging Trump’s border wall declaration

New York is joining California and 14 other states in a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in the lawsuit Monday that Trump is threatening public safety with his move to divert funding from military construction and other programs to pay for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

All the states involved in the lawsuit have Democratic attorneys general.

Trump declared an emergency on Friday to shift billions of dollars to the wall after Congress wouldn’t approve the amount he wanted.

Trump, a Republican, considers a wall a national security necessity. The lawsuit alleges he’s manufacturing a crisis and that his declaration is an “unconstitutional and unlawful scheme.”

This year’s defence budget includes $194 million for construction at military installations in New York.