Faith leaders in Chicago were pushing back Monday against President Trump's decision to send more immigration agents to Chicago.

The president sparked outrage over the weekend with a social media post that appeared to threaten to send in troops to Chicago for a widespread crime and immigration crackdown, and state and local leaders fired back.

On Monday, religious leaders in Chicago called the president's rhetoric dangerous and the threat to send in troops illegal.

"People of faith, and people of determination, and people that believe in truth and believe in justice and believe in democracy, we're coming to let him know, not here. You've met your match, Trump," Rev. Michael Pfleger said.

Pfleger and other religious leaders from Chicago gathered at Daley Plaza to send a message to President Trump

"Donald Trump thinks he has a hammer in his hand, and he thinks he can bring that hammer to Chicago, but he is about to find out that Chicago is an anvil," said Rev. David Black.

Over the weekend, the president posted an image of Chicago with helicopters overhead, labeled "Chipocalypse Now." The AI-generated image appears to parody the movie "Apocalypse Now." 

The president warned in the post that "Chicago about to find out why it's called the department of war."

Gov. JB Pritzker responded online, accusing Mr. Trump of "threatening to go to war with an American city," and saying "Illinois won't be intimidated by a wannabe dictator."

Illinois leaders have said there is no evidence that federal troops are actually coming, but warn that the president's rhetoric is still dangerous.

U.S. Sen. Tamy Duckworth on Sunday said the president "essentially just declared war on a major city in his own nation."

But on Sunday, the president told reporters at the White House that his administration is not "going to war" in Chicago.

"We're going to clean up our cities," Mr. Trump said. "We're going to clean them up, so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war, that's common sense."

Meantime, faith leaders and activists stood together in the Loop on Monday, carrying with signs saying "faith over fear," while making it clear the president's words are a direct attack on their communities.

"He cannot control us. We control us. We control our community. You cannot tell us what to do, when to do it, and what to say. No. That's not going to happen," said Carolyn Ruff, founder of Black Lives Matter Women of Faith.

Faith leaders said they want more federal funding for investments in schools, healthcare, and violence prevention, not federal troops on the streets of Chicago.

"We know what it means to turn some of the most violent-ridden blocks into some of the most thriving blocks in the city of Chicago, and it does not mean military troops," said Dr. Rami Nashashibi, founder and executive director of Inner-City Muslim Action Network.

Chicago religious leaders said they will continue to organize against any federal deployment in Chicago.

"We don't need a national force to tell us how we are going to spread love and peace in our community. That is our job," said Gregory Abdullah Mitchell, executive director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, "and we as people as face reject the tools of guns and troops to solve problems."

Mr. Trump has targeted Chicago and other Democrat-led cities for expanded federal intervention. His administration has said it will step up immigration enforcement in the Windy City, as he did in Los Angeles, and would deploy National Guard troops to help fight crime. In addition to sending troops to Los Angeles in June, Mr. Trump deployed them last month in Washington, D.C., as part of his unprecedented law enforcement takeover of the nation's capital.