An energy emergency declaration might be unprecedented, but it's designed to streamline permitting, weaken regulation and cut gas prices.

Invoking presidential emergency powers gives the president the ability to go around Congress and unlock federal funding to crack down at the border.

President Donald Trump opened his second term with an inaugural address declaring that America has a “national energy emergency.” Vowing to tap into the country’s vast oil and gas reserves, Trump dismisses the overwhelming majority of climate scientists who say burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases that overheat the planet.