Trump flew to the Texas border with Mexico to try to bolster his case for the wall, flanked by tearful family members of people killed by illegal immigrants and border patrol agents who are not receiving pay checks during the shutdown.

“If we don’t have a barrier, a very substantial barrier of some kind, you’re not going to be able to solve this problem,” Trump said at a briefing where plastic-wrapped bricks of heroin, seized guns and a plastic bag full of cash were prominently displayed.

Trump is adamant that a government funding bill to end the shutdown include $5.7 billion for a border barrier - his signature campaign promise. The standoff has left a quarter of the federal government closed down and hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay.

A day after he stormed out of a meeting with Democratic leaders that was aimed at negotiating an end to the funding standoff, Trump attacked them for refusing his demand, calling them harder to deal with than China, a rival power.

“I find China, frankly, in many ways to be far more honorable than Crying Chuck and Nancy. I really do,” Trump said, referring to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Trump signaled he was prepared for the showdown to stretch into late January, canceling plans to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which is scheduled to start on Jan. 22.

Trump said his lawyers had told him he had the power to invoke national emergency powers to get his wall funded, a course of action that Democrats have said may be illegal.

“I have the absolute right to declare a national emergency,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I’m not prepared to do that yet, but if I have to, I will.”