President Donald Trump made a televised plea for border wall funding Tuesday night, seeking an edge in the shutdown battle with congressional Democrats as he declared there is "a humanitarian crisis, a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul."

Addressing the nation from the Oval Office for the first time, Trump argued for funding on security and humanitarian grounds as he sought to put pressure on newly empowered Democrats amid an extended partial government shutdown.

Trump called on Democrats to return to the White House to meet with him, saying it was "immoral" for "politicians to do nothing."

Massachusetts officials responded strongly to Trump's assertions, many of them repeating calls for the president to end the partial government shutdown.

Rep. Joe Kennedy III said the address was "a shame to see."

"It was once again a blatant attempt to vilify the contribution that immigrants make to our community," Kennedy told WGBH News. "It was distorted. It was not factual, and it was, I think, attempts from a desperate president to try to make an argument for something that is unnecessary and is not going to actually achieve the ends that he he hopes."

Sen. Ed Markey said in a statement following Trump's address that Trump "used his television address tonight to present a fear- and hate-ridden case about a manufactured national security emergency at the border. But the longer President Trump extends this government shutdown, the more unsafe and insecure Americans really become."

Markey again called for the president to end the shutdown, saying that while Americans do not need a border wall, "Massachusetts residents and workers do need clean drinking water, food assistance, and paychecks ... It is time for Republicans to join Democrats and pass bipartisan legislation to reopen the government. Let’s put people back to work and provide certainty for the American public."

Markey wrote on Twitter that "there are more Americans today going without their paychecks because of the #TrumpShutdown than immigrants who illegally crossed the southern border in the past two years."

Rep. Ayanna Pressley wrote in a tweet, "Mr. Trump, I see right through you and so do the American people," echoing a line from her first speech on the floor of the House of Representatives earlier Tuesday.

In an earlier tweet, Pressley addressed "to the immigrant community" in her Massachusetts district and "across this country, you are seen, you are valued, you belong here."

In a statement calling on the president to protect federal workers, Rep. Lori Trahan said the border security debate should happen through the normal legislative process.

“Tonight, instead of using his power to make life easier for hardworking families suffering as a result of the government shutdown, President Trump turned the Oval Office into a prop in his ongoing case for a border wall," she said. "You shouldn't have to shut the government down to have a policy debate. Negotiating border security is an issue separate from the responsibility that Congress and the president [have] to keep the lights on."

Rep. Seth Moulton tweeted before the president's address ended, calling it "political theatre."

Rep. Richard Neal tweeted #EndTheShutdown, stating that while Americans want "secure borders ... they do not believe the federal government and its workforce should be held hostage in the process."

Rep. Jim McGovern called Trump's statements about Democrats' position on border security "a lie."

Before the address began, Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on Twitter for the end of the "ridiculous" partial federal shutdown and wrote that "building a border wall won't make us any safer."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.