ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday claimed the crisis at the southern border is a “bona fide emergency.”

The vice president said in an interview with ABC News that President Donald Trump is “prepared to do what’s necessary to address what is a real humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border.”

But Pence did not say whether the president would declare a “national emergency” over border security, which he has said he has the authority to do if Congress does not fund the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border that he’s demanding.

Trump is expected to address the nation Tuesday night from the White House on the border crisis that has led to a federal government shutdown.

“The American people deserve to know that the situation on our southern border has become as The Washington Post said a ‘bona fide emergency,'” Pence told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl.

“Sixty-thousand people a month and for the first time on record, the vast majority of those are families, unaccompanied children and it simply is overwhelming the ability of our border patrol and customs agents to be able to address it,” Pence said. “We need new resources. We need to build a wall. We need the Congress to come to the table and work with this president to address this crisis once and for all.”

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