Reactions to Obama’s Unprecedented Power Grab on Immigration

Last night the President announced Executive Action on illegal immigration.  Below are reactions from a few leaders. 

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt

The President can tell the American people that he is taking this action because of his deep personal convictions about this immigration issue. But if that were true, he would have taken this action as soon as possible, rather than waiting until after the elections, so as to avoid the inevitable backlash from the voters. 

U.S House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte:

It’s both perplexing and alarming that President Obama has decided to move forward with executive actions that he once said he didn’t have the constitutional power to take. The President’s decision to recklessly forge ahead with a plan to unilaterally change our immigration laws ignores the will of the American people and flouts the Constitution.

Curt Levy of the Committee for Justice:

Obama's problem is not really with Congress; it is with the American people who elected this Congress.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise

As the House works to put a stop to the president’s constitutional overreach, we will make full use of the many tools we have available to us to do so. The president should abandon this unlawful approach and focus on securing the border, enforcing the laws on the books, and working with us in Congress to fix our broken immigration system.

John Yoo, Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley: 

So what we have here is a president who is refusing to carry out federal law simply because he disagrees with Congress’s policy choices. That is an exercise of executive power that even the most stalwart defenders of an energetic executive — not to mention the Framers — cannot support.

Dr. John C. Eastman, Henry Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service, Chapman University:

Tonight the President reached new heights of arrogance and disregard for the Rule of Law.  . . .Our framers wisely built into our Constitution significant powers for Congress to be able to check such abuses.