Attorneys for Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Texas say the U.S. Constitution empowers the state to place buoy barriers in the Rio Grande. The state lawyers claim the sharp rise in illegal border crossings and drug trafficking under the Biden administration call for a response under the constitution's "invasion clause." The Justice Department asked a judge late last month to order the removal of the thousand-foot string of buoys placed in the river near Eagle Pass at Abbott's order. The federal government is suing the state over the buoys.