It is not going to get better, folks

President Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday, invoking special presidential powers that allow him to unilaterally unlock federal funding for border wall construction and potentially to deploy the military and National Guard to the border.

[...]

During Mr. Trump’s first term, the military only supported immigration authorities but did not apprehend migrants. Mr. Trump now directed the Defense Department to come up with a plan in 30 days “to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.”

[...]

As he did in his first term, Mr. Trump relied on the National Emergencies Act, a post-Watergate law that allows the president to declare a national emergency, which enhances his executive powers. The act was intended to enable the federal government to respond quickly to a crisis by creating exemptions to rules that would normally constrain the president.

[...]

Congress is limited in what it can do to stop a president from using his emergency powers. Under the National Emergencies Act, the House and the Senate can pass a joint resolution to end the emergency status if they believe that the president is acting irresponsibly or the threat has dissipated. The law says that if one chamber passes such a measure, the other must bring it up in 18 days.

But Republicans control both chambers of Congress, making it extremely unlikely that Mr. Trump would face pushback from the legislative branch.

[...]

The border has also been particularly calm in recent days, especially when compared with the numbers seen a year ago, a development that could undermine Mr. Trump’s assertion that an emergency exists. But that might not matter.

  NYT

Correction: that WILL NOT matter.

Mitch McConnell and the Supreme Court are 100% culpable.  But they couldn't have done what they have without a citizenry that went along.

UPDATE 12:27 pm:

UPDATE 01/22/2025: