HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. government carefully designed a path of least resistance to building a border wall in Texas, picking places it already owns or controls to quickly begin construction.

All it needed was Congress to approve the money. Then came Harvey.

The Trump administration must now grapple with a storm that devastated the Texas Gulf Coast, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Rebuilding will cost tens of billions of dollars and will probably have to come at the expense of perhaps President Donald Trump's biggest policy priority. And the president's pre-storm threat of a government shutdown if the border wall isn't funded seems no longer politically feasible.

Still, work could begin without congressional approval in areas such as a wildlife refuge next to the Rio Grande.

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