"A federal judge on Friday smacked down President Trump's plan to divert military funds to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas Senior Judge David Briones called Trump's declaration of a national emergency along the border "unlawful" and said the president improperly sought to supersede a decision by Congress not to authorize funding for the project.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act "expressly forbids Defendants' funding plan," Briones wrote in his Friday opinion.

Filed by a Texas county and the Border Network for Human Rights, the challenge stems from a Defense Department decision to move $20 million away from a military construction project in El Paso County."

Pamela King reports for Greenwire October 14, 2019. [2]