WATCH: White House Responds To Abbott In Border Standoff, Doesn't Rule Out Federalizing Texas National Guard

On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) took a stand against the Biden administration by arguing that the state of Texas has the right to defend itself from the ongoing invasion currently underway along the Rio Grande as tens of thousands of migrants enter the Lone Star State each month. The governor laid out his argument in an open letter to the Biden administration. In response to the letter, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took to CNN and did not rule out federalizing the Texas National Guard, a move called for by some Democrats.

"Some Democrats are saying that the president needs to federalize the Texas National Guard. Do you think that will happen?" CNN host John Berman asked the White House press secretary. "You know, the border patrol agents are now, as you said, allowed to cut through the wire because of what the Supreme Court has laid out. It is unfortunate that we have had to go there. It is unfortunate that there is a governor in Texas, Governor Abbott, who has politicized this issue of what's happening at the border, and it's not making people's lives safer. It is actually making it harder for law enforcement at the border to do their job, so we have been really clear; we want to make sure we get something done at the border. That's why we have been having these conversations with Senate Republicans and Democrats for the past several weeks to come up with a bipartisan agreement to deal with the border."

Jean-Pierre went on to claim that Abbott isn't helping communities along the border with his actions and that Texas's actions are putting border patrol agents "in harm's way." The White House press secretary then concluded her response by explaining that she would not say whether or not Biden would take action against Abbott's bold stand.

In the governor's letter to the federal government, Abbott explained that the Biden administration has failed to fulfill its constitutional duty to protect the states. "The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States. The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now," Abbott began. "President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them. The result is that he has smashed records for illegal immigration."

The governor went on to explain that President Biden has ignored Texas's demands to secure the border and follow federal law, thus forcing Abbott's hand. "James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the other visionaries who wrote the U.S. Constitution foresaw that States should not be left to the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like cartels smuggling millions of illegal immigrants across the border," the Texas governor wrote, adding that Article IV, Section 4 promises that the federal government will protect the states from invasion and that Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 allows for the states to take action if the federal government fails to act.

Abbott's letter comes after the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote that the federal government has the authority to remove barriers placed along the border by the state of Texas that were meant to dissuade migrants from entering the United States illegally. The decision gives Border Patrol agents the authority to cut razor wire deployed by the Texas National Guard as a part of Gov. Abbott's Operation Lone Star. While the Supreme Court did lift the federal government's prohibition on cutting the razor wire, the actual merits of the case are still being considered in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

WATCH:

BREAKING: White House doesn't rule out federalizing the Texas National Guard pic.twitter.com/tbHdowVOQO

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 25, 2024