A group of 26 attorneys general are defending Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s right to defend his state "against invasion" amid a bitter border battle between Texas and President Biden, Paralel.Az reports citing Fox News.

Last week, Abbott said he would assert Article 1 powers to defend against an "invasion" at the border while the Biden administration refuses to enforce federal immigration laws. His announcement sparked a controversy that will play out in court about what legal grounds Abbott can claim to support his decision.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, 26 Republican attorneys general tell President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that they support the Lone Star State, saying that "millions of people illegally coming into Texas as part of a coordinated assault on our border is an invasion" and that "states must be able to defend themselves from invasion."

"Right now cartels, terror groups, and other bad actors are taking advantage of the chaos by the border to orchestrate a mass influx of people. Gangs are using the flood of people to hide their ‘predator’ members as they enter the United States," they said.

"Millions of people illegally coming into Texas as part of a coordinated assault on our border is an invasion. No state, not even Texas, can handle such an influx of people," they argued.

Attorneys General Brenna Bird of Iowa and Sean Reyes of Utah, who led the Monday letter, note that since Biden’s inauguration day in 2021, more than 6 million illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border. "That is effectively adding the population of Iowa and Utah to our country in less than three years," they said.

"The invasion on our southern border has made every state a border state," Bird told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"If the Biden Administration won’t do its job to secure our border and keep Americans safe, it should step aside to let the States do the job for them," she said.