Beto O'Rourke takes on Trump's border wall in one of his last acts as a congressman

Democrats are praising Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) in one of the last actions as a member of the U.S. Congress that takes on and criticizes President Donald Trump's plan to build a border wall.

O'Rourke, who lost his bid to unseat Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the 2018 midterm election, tweeted a video meant to undermine the argument for a solid border wall as Trump promised numerous times in the 2016 election campaign.

The video lists consequences of the border wall construction, including the claim that it would "block access to the Rio Grande." It also claimed that the wall would demand that government "seize land from Americans through eminent domain," and "exile hundreds of thousands of acres of the U.S. to a no man's land between the river and the wall."

Here's the anti-wall video from O'Rourke's account:

"We need realistic immigration reform, not a symbol of division," the video concluded.

MSNBC host Joy Reid praised the video in a tweet response.

"Beto making a visual, visceral case against Trump's wall (that Mexico is not paying for)," she tweeted. "The eminent domain point seems particularly salient, given that much of the privately owned land that would have to be used/seized for Trump's wall is in Texas."

"Important reminder that the people who are demanding the wall have no idea what is actually in the space they want to build on," responded Slate writer Amanda Marcotte. "Which does go a long way towards explaining why Trump was so bad at the construction business."

The Washington Post's Matt Viser implied that the act was a sign that O'Rourke was heading towards running in 2020 against the president.

"Just your average, outgoing three-term congressman, cutting a pointed 50-second video that takes it to Trump on what will be perhaps the most potent issue in 2020," Viser tweeted.

O'Rourke has been a vocal critic of Trump and his policies, and many on the left are hopeful that he might mount a campaign to unseat the president in 2020, but progressives are criticizing him for not being far left enough.

The government was partially shut down over a disagreement between Trump, who is demanding funding for the border wall, and the Democrats who refuse to sign off on any funding for one of the president's biggest campaign promises.

Here's the latest on the political fight over the border wall: