Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has challenged President Donald Trump on border security, claiming that there's no crisis at the southern border and that Trump should not invoke emergency powers to build a long-promised wall.
"I just don't think you should call national emergencies, unless there truly is a national emergency," Clinton said in a fresh episode of Showtime's documentary series The Circus. "There's no national emergency at out border, and he's frustrated because he cannot even convince his own party to support his requests."
"And he shouldn't be breaking new ground and causing precedents that really could come back to haunt not him, but haunt our country," Clinton insisted, suggesting that Trump should instead "go through regular" protocols and work with Congress.
She went on to say that Democratic lawmakers are just as supportive about border security, but they are at odds with his claims that a border wall is the only remedy.
Clinton also said she was looking forward to the widely-anticipated release of Special Counsel Mueller's report on the Trump campaign's alleged ties with Russia.
"I think anyone in a position of responsibility has a duty to keep the American people informed, and I would expect that duty to be fulfilled, and if there is a report, that report should be sent to the Congress and made public."
Her remarks have triggered a mixed reaction, with some commenters accusing the former secretary of state of overlooking warning signs ahead of the infamous 2012 attack on US diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, which left four US diplomatic workers dead including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
Others suggested that she should go to the border to learn about the perceived crisis first-hand.
Donald Trump has repeatedly floated the possibility of declaring a national emergency, which would enable him to divert military funds for his border wall, bypassing the US Congress. While his critics argue that demands for a wall on the Mexico border are designed to mobilise the conservative base, Trump insists that this project would help the nation stem gang violence, drug smuggling and human trafficking on the southern border.
Stark disagreements over border security funding in Congress have led to a lapse in federal funding and a 35-day partial shutdown of government agencies, the longest in US history. Trump ordered to re-open the government on 25 January, threatening, however, that he would repeat the shutdown if he does not get the money he wants for the border wall project.