The right-wing Dutch cabinet will press ahead with exploring the idea of declaring an asylum emergency and therefore bypassing parliament to bring in new rules to reduce the number of refugees coming to the Netherlands, prime minister Dick Schoof confirmed on Friday.

Speaking after the cabinet meeting, Schoof said the cabinet would take two to four weeks to reach a decision about whether or not to take the step, which civil servants have said would not be an option in the current situation.

The issue dominated Thursday’s debate on the cabinet’s 2025 spending plans, and opposition MPs reacted furiously when they were handed government documents about the issue with dozens of redacted pages. Schoof later ordered ministries to give unredacted copies to MPs in a “one-off” gesture.

Schoof said ministers would take all the available advice into account in reaching their decision, and that included the impact of Thursday’s debate. “The debate in parliament will have influence,” he said.

The NSC in particular is known to have doubts about the plan to declare an emergency, and supported the opposition in calling for all the civil service documents to be made available to MPs.

Immigration minister Marjolein Faber will come up with the proposals, Schoof said.

Faber told reporters earlier on Friday that she still believed the cabinet could press ahead with the crisis declaration.

“I am going for the emergency law and that is what we will focus on, because then I can take steps very quickly,” she said. “This country is crying out for change and policy has to switch. And the quickest way is if I call an asylum crisis.”

Ordinary fast-track legislation would not have the same impact because it would take longer to enact, Faber said. She declined to say if the PVV would support that option if the crisis call is ruled out.

Opposition MPs on Thursday drew up a motion calling on the government to implement fast-track legislation to bring in new measures to control asylum, rather than to declare an emergency and so bypass parliament, but it failed to win enough votes.