Mitch McConnell issues surprising statement on possibility of Trump announcing a national emergency

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) indicated that he was willing to go to extraordinary lengths to reach a deal with Democrats in order to prevent President Donald Trump from declaring a national emergency.

McConnell told reporters that he was considering legislation that would prevent the government from going into a shutdown if lawmakers couldn't agree on a budget.

"I don't like shutdowns," he told reporters. "I don't think they work for anybody and I hope they will be avoided.

"I'd be open to anything that we could agree on on a bipartisan basis that would make them pretty hard to occur again," he added.

McConnell said that the fact the shutdown happened at all is an embarrassment.

"I think this is an example of government dysfunction which should be embarrassing to everyone on a bipartisan basis," he told reporters.

"I am for whatever works - which means avoiding a shutdown, and avoiding the president feeling he should declare a national emergency," he added. "Exactly how to do that, as you all know, has been quite challenging."

The president has hinted that declaring a national emergency was an option he was considering in order to circumvent needing approval from Congress, where Democrats have control of the House of Representatives. An alleged draft of the order has already leaked to the media.

Critics of the president have opined that such a move would almost certainly result in legal challenges.

A recent poll showed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had the worst net approval rating among prominent politicians after the heated debate over the partial government shutdown.

Here's the latest on the budget battle: