On Monday, President Obama announced what many Americans had long expected, but Constitutionalists have long feared. Obama announced that he was taking unilateral action on the issue of immigration reform In the same Rose Garden where two years ago he announced his unilateral plan to stop enforcing existing immigration laws in favor of handling deportations on a case-by-case basis, President Obama announced on Monday that he would, in the following months, be taking action without the approval of Congress to address illegal immigration and immigration reform issues. Noting that Speaker of the House John Boehner does not intend to vote on immigration reform legislation this year, Obama stated, “I take executive action only when we have a serious problem, a serious issue and Congress chooses to do nothing. And in this situation, the failure of the House Republicans to pass a darn bill is bad for our economy and it’s bad for our future.” “I held off on pressuring them for a long time to give Speaker Boehner the space he needed to get his fellow Republicans on board,” Obama also stated. Obama blasted Republicans for not falling-in-line with the Democrats’ call for immigration reform. While Republicans have remained open to ideas aimed at curbing illegal immigration, all pieces of legislation that have gained any sort of traction in the House or Senate have called for some form of amnesty- a reward of citizenship for those who are here illegally. Further, Speaker Boehner and other leading Republicans have repeatedly noted that the president is operating more and more lawlessly and cannot be trusted to adequately enforce the law- an argument that was validated by Monday’s assertion that the president can operate without Congress in creating laws. Repeatedly claiming that the “majority” of Americans are united in a belief that immigration reform is needed, despite the fact that the country remains highly divided on this issue and “immigration reform” has come to encompass a broad range of ideas, with Democrats and moderate Republicans championing amnesty ad nauseum. “Our country and our economy would be stronger today if House Republicans had allowed a simple yes or no vote on this bill or for that matter any bill. They would be following the will of the majority of the American people to support reform,” Obama said. “Instead, they have proven again and again that they are unwilling to stand up to the Tea Party in order to do what’s best for the country. The worst part of is a bunch of them know better.” President Obama swayed back and forth between assuring Americans he looked forward to working with Republicans and issuing ultimatums. “If House Republicans are really concerned about me taking too many executive actions, the best solution to that is passing bills,” Obama advised. Of course, while the president does hold power to influence legislation via veto power and such, no power exists in our Constitution that allows the president to unilaterally declare which laws will be enforced, which laws will not and to create new laws without the consent of Congress. Monday’s announcement is sure to startle many conservatives as he appears more and more at ease with taking power into his own hands. Obama’s announcement came just days after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that he had overstepped his office’s limitations by making recess appointments and it came on the same day that the Supreme Court affirmed the right of companies to refrain from purchasing healthcare that includes contraceptives if it violates religious principles- a key element of Obamacare, President Obama’s namesake legislation that serves as his crumbling first-term “achievement.” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus released a statement minutes after Obama’s announcement, saying, “After being rebuked 13 times by a unanimous Supreme Court in just three years and with the House of Representatives filing a lawsuit to curb Obama’s presidential overreach, you’d think this administration would get the message. Our Constitution is not a list of suggestions. Our founders were not mistaken when they created three separate branches of government.”
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 23:53:23 +0000
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