Obama does whatever is expedient. He is reacting to polling data, not to a belief that sealing the border is important.
Nailed it. Now he has political cover to say that he sent the Guard. This is political window dressing.
Plus he wants the money to be appropriated which means that should Congress cut it or refuse to provide it he can say he tried to do something but Congress wouldn’t go along with it.
He could work with SW governors and organize a force using DoD money very quickly. But he prefers to drag out the process and maybe even see it roadblocked by Pelosi& Co. who can say they will do nothing short of “comprehensive immigration reform.”
The border situation doesn’t fit Obama’s definition of an “emergency.” If Goldman Sachs made a plea for another Wall Street bailout, THAT would be a real crisis demanding hundreds of billions. But the Mexican border? Naw, the status quo is really not too bad from 0’s viewpoint.