As California and New Mexico go to court in an effort to keep President Trump from using federal funds for a wall along their southern borders, there's debate over whether the President can use money fro the Pentagon for the project.
During the government shutdown, President Trump decided to pull $2.5 billion dollars from the defense budget for border wall construction. Normally, the president would need to get money to build such a wall from Congress, but they refused to pay.
University of Californa, Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky understands the President's rationale.
"There is a statute that authorizes the President to take unallocated defense money and use it but has to be to support military efforts," said Chemerinsky. "(He would do so) to help the military in the case of an emergency mobilization."
In a Thursday tweet, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he joined his counterpart from New Mexico in filing a court motion to stop the use of defense money, adding that they believe the President's actions are illegal.
Chemerinsky thinks the lawsuit has a chance of succeeding, but the attorneys general would have to prove that their states are injured by the President's actions and they're going to be hurt in various ways, and they therefore have what's called standing to sue."
He expects at least one suit involving the wall to eventually end up before the Supreme Court.