Texans Reject Trump's Use of Emergency Power But Are Evenly Divided on Merits of a Border Wall

WASHINGTON -- Most Texans say President Donald Trump has gone too far in trying to invoke emergency powers to build a border wall that Congress refuses to fund. A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, hours before the U.S. House votes to nullify Trump's emergency declaration, found that far more Texans support the idea of building a wall than the president's methods to scrape together the funding. Many agree with the president's rhetoric depicting illegal immigration, drug trafficking and the incursion of gangs as an "invasion."Texas voters disapprove Trump's use of emergency powers 60 percent to 39 percent, the pollsters found. By a smaller margin, 52 to 45, Texans say the level of illegal border crossing does not amount to a national emergency -- suggesting that some do view illegal immigration as a problem but also see Trump's move as unwise or an unconstitutional power grab.Among all Texans polled, 48 percent support building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and 48 percent oppose the idea.The partisan divide is extreme. Republicans are far more eager for a wall, with 87 percent in favor and 11 percent against. Democrats are the mirror image: 90 percent oppose the wall, 7 percent favor the idea.Self-identified independent voters are more divided, 51-43.Trump triggered a five-week partial government shutdown -- the longest in U.S. history -- when Congress refused to authorize funds for the project. He had demanded $5.7 billion. A deal to keep funding the Homeland Security Department and other key agencies with 800,000 federal employees through the end of September included $1.37 billion.  Continue reading...