US Senate on the brink of rejecting border wall emergency

The US Congress is on the brink of cancelling President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration after opponents of the measure in the Senate managed to round-up enough support in order to vote it down.

According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the resolution to terminate Trump's emergency declaration from 15 February, which had already passed muster in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the US Congress, now had enough backers in the Senate as well.

However, if the President wielded his veto power, then he could still override Congress, unless lawmakers were able to obtain a so-called 'supermajority' - which consists of two-thirds of the vote - in both chambers.

Alternatively, lawmakers could pursue the matter in court.

An internal debate was due to be held in the Senate on Tuesday, with a vote expected before the end of next week.

Trump declared the state of emergency after he failed to convince Congress to grant him $5.7bn to fund building 'The Wall' on the US border with Mexico, which he claims is essential in order to stop illegal immigration, crime and drugs coming into the country.

The Democrats argue that the wall is inefficient and would just amount to huge costs without delivering substantial results.

Some GOP members who had sided with the Democrats also argued that Trump was exceeding his constitutional mandate by invoking a national emergency to appropriate funds even in the face of opposition from Congress.