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Britain's surprise vote to exit the European Union has sent shockwaves around the globe, not least of all in the Lone Star State, as聽Texas nationalists seized on Thursday鈥檚 Brexit decision to renew calls for a referendum for Texas independence.

鈥淭he forces of fear have lost. It is now important for Texas to look to 鈥狟rexit as an inspiration and an example that Texans can also take control of our destiny. It is time for Texans to rally with us and fight for the right to ,鈥� Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, said in a statement early Friday.

The Texas Nationalist Movement 鈥� out of the state鈥檚 27 million people 鈥� and the organization previously dismissed as a fringe group got closer than ever before to influencing the Texas Republican platform in May, in committee of bringing a secession resolution to the convention floor of nearly 4,000 delegates, as the Associated Press reported.

"," Mr. Miller told Reuters, and the term was trending on Twitter Friday, propelled both by and campaigning by genuine Lone Star nationalists. The has more likes on Facebook than the pages for and combined.

Texas nationalist supporters echo many of the same themes as the Leave campaign, including opposition to big-government regulation and a desire for a more secure border 鈥� parallels that Mr. Miller sought to accentuate.

鈥淵ou could take 鈥楤ritain鈥� out and replace it with 鈥楾exas鈥�. You could take 鈥楨U鈥� out and replace it with 鈥楿S鈥�. You could take 鈥楤russels鈥� out and replace it with 鈥榃ashington DC鈥�. You could give you guys a nice Texas drawl and no one would know any different. ,鈥� Miller told The Guardian.

Yet while the European Union is an association of independent countries with pre-existing protocols for a member to exit, the US Constitution, say most legal scholars, bars states from leaving, as and the White House have pointed out when calls for Texas鈥檚 independence gained public attention before.

鈥淢ore than 600,000 Americans died in a long and bloody civil war that vindicated the principle that the Constitution establishes a permanent union between the States,鈥� the White House wrote in response to a 2012 petition asking for Texas to be granted the right to peacefully withdraw from the United States, saying that Americans cannot allow healthy political debate to .

Texas nationalists cite the state鈥檚 unique history as a basis for secessionist claims. After declaring independence from Mexico in 1836, Texas was an independent country for nine years, until being annexed by the United States with a resolution that contains language that has often led to confusion about the state鈥檚 ability to secede, as the reported. The resolution allows for the state to divide itself into 鈥淣ew States of convenient size not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas,鈥� meaning it can split itself into five new states, but not leave the Union.

Texas鈥檚 secession preceding the Civil War was declared 鈥渁bsolutely null鈥� by the Supreme Court in the 1869 case. 鈥淭he State did not cease to be a State, nor her citizens to be citizens of the Union,鈥� the judges ruled.

The nation鈥檚 most populous state, California, also has murmurings of a secessionist movement that鈥檚 undeterred by the legal arguments and hopes to include a referendum on making California an independent country in the .