on february 15, 2019, president of the united states donald trump declared a national emergency concerning the southern border of the united states (proclamation 9844), citing the national emergencies act, and ordered the diversion of billions of dollars of funds that had been appropriated to the u.s. department of defense for military construction. trump declared the emergency after he signed, but derided, a bipartisan funding bill (passed by the house and the senate a day before) containing border security funding without funding for the border wall that trump demanded.