The “imminent threat” bit was spun up for the same reason that we’re told Trump could violate the law to put a hold on the Ukrainian assistance funds: It’s an after-the-fact excuse for a totally impulsive action. He was never going to get Congressional approval, which is what the law requires him to seek for such acts. So he put his underlings to the task of coming up with an excuse and the best they could do was shit out this paper-thin “imminent threat” justification that they can avoid going into by mumbling about “national security” and “classified intel.”