Talks Over Border Security Break Down, Imperiling Effort to Prevent Shutdown – The New York Times

“How in the world after that speech does he sign a bill that would reduce the bed spaces available for violent offenders?” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a close ally of the president, referring to Mr. Trump’s State of the Union address.

Speaking on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News, he added, “He can’t do that, he won’t do that and you can take that to the bank.”

Still, Mr. Shelby and Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana and a member of the conference committee, said on Sunday that they had not given up on reaching a deal. Democratic conferees held a conference call on Sunday morning to discuss options, according to a Democratic aide, but did not settle on a final decision on how to move forward.

The breakdown in negotiations came as Pentagon and administration officials were preparing for two situations: another partial government shutdown or the president, unsatisfied with an agreement produced by the bipartisan panel, fulfilling his threat to declare a national emergency.

Mr. Trump has told allies that while he would grudgingly accept a border security figure of about $2 billion, he was still considering using his executive authority to declare an emergency.

“The Wall will get built one way or the other!” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday afternoon.

In what one Defense Department official described as a surreal scramble over the weekend, Pentagon officials met on Friday and over the weekend to identify which Army Corps of Engineers construction projects would be tapped for money to help build Mr. Trump’s wall if the president declared a national emergency.

Officials pored over the language of multiple draft declarations that Mr. Trump might invoke if a deal is not reached or he rejects what lawmakers agree upon. Mr. Trump’s top national security aides — the so-called principals committee — are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss that matter. Mr. Trump is then to convene a full National Security Council meeting on Tuesday, officials said.