What Biden can do to seal US border – and the role Congress plays

President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans agree there is a “crisis” at the southern border.

But they disagree on whether the president has the authority to make substantial policy changes alone – or must wait on Congress for more sweeping reforms and the funding to enact them.  

Mr. Biden has urged Congress to pass the bipartisan Senate deal released this weekend, saying it would give him new emergency authority to “shut down” the border – authority he has pledged to use immediately. His vow, in effect acknowledging a failure to adequately control a migrant surge under his watch but putting the onus on Congress to act, has sparked a broader debate about how much executive authority Mr. Biden already possesses to secure the border. 

Now that question has taken on greater urgency. With the Senate