Pallone Vows He Will Fight Trump's 'Fake' National Emergency

MATAWAN, NJ — Rep. Frank Pallone, the Democratic congressman who has long represented New Jersey's sixth congressional district, railed against President Trump's declaration Thursday that he will declare a national emergency in order to use federal funding to build a border wall with Mexico.

By very definition, the declaration could divert billions of dollars in civil works programs, flood prevention and reconstruction projects, including specifically more than $50 million intended for New Jersey facilities at Picatinny Arsenal and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

"I can't emphasis strongly enough that first of all, his declaring a national emergency is totally illegal, first because there is no national emergency with regard to the border," Pallone said, speaking Friday in a video taped from his Washington, D.C. office. "If anything, there are probably fewer people coming over the border now than there have been in the past few years ... While it might be wise to look at new security arrangements, building an additional security wall, beyond the wall that's already there, makes no sense."

"It is a pretty scary thing when President Trump decides to become a dictator and ignore the Constitution," said the Democratic congressman. "I can't stress how serious that is. I do think more and more he just wants to reign almost like a king or an emperor without Congress."

Many Republicans, and even some Democrats, accused President Obama of something similar when he was in office, of abusing the executive powers of his office and ignoring Congress and the constitutional framework. Read: Obama's curtain call: A look back on a legacy of executive overreach

Gov. Phil Murphy released a similar statement Friday: "I am very concerned with President Trump’s decision to declare an emergency to build his ineffective and unnecessary wall. His decision to circumvent Congress is not only fiscally reckless, but constitutionally dubious."

Watch Pallone's address:

On Friday, Pallone co-sponsored a privileged resolution to terminate Trump's declaration of emergency under the National Emergencies Act.

"I’ll be fighting the president’s actions on the floor of the House, through the courts and however else is necessary to restore our democracy, which may require his removal from office," said your local congressman.

New Jersey's Sixth Congressional district stretches from Carteret and Woodbridge into Edison, New Brunswick and down to Asbury Park. It hugs the Bayshore coastline, including towns such as Aberdeen, Matawan, Hazlet, Sea Bright and West Long Branch.

Pallone has represented the district since 1998; it's a part of Central Jersey that was formerly made up of blue-collar factory workers. While much of that industry has shut down, or moved overseas, NJ 6 retains its pro-union, Democratic leanings. The sixth district is also extremely diverse, having seen a surge of new Asian and Hispanic residents in the past 20 years. It has voted for the Democrat in all the recent presidential elections: Hillary, Obama, Kerry and Gore.