At stake is $5.7 billion for 234 miles of border fence. The details were laid out in a White House Office of Management and Budget request to Congress earlier this month.

Trump at the Rose Garden Friday warned Congress to find a way to fund that project by Feb. 15.

“Or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the constitution of the United States to address this emergency,” he said.

Brian Segee is an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, which  sued the Trump Administration over southwestern border wall expansion projects.

"He’s posturing that he’s giving Congress three weeks but he’s not operating from a position of strength."

The president has warned he may use a national emergency declaration to have the military build the border fence.

"It has problems legally and it also a huge loser for him politically. It’s really hard to find a strong constituency other than the far right wing for his border wall."

Earlier this week, Senator Martha McSally agreed with the president that the project is needed. 

"Democrat and Republican presidents have supported, to include President Obama, even in our community replacing some of the old barriers with the new barriers. This used to be a bipartisan issue, so we've gotta get through this and fix it," she said last Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz.