Posted on 11/19/2014 1:08:29 PM PST by SoConPubbie
The Constitution designs a system of checks and balances for our nation, and executive amnesty for immigrants here illegally unilaterally decreed from the White House would seriously undermine the rule of law.
Our founders repeatedly warned about the dangers of unlimited power within the executive branch; Congress should heed those words as the President threatens to grant amnesty to millions of people who have come to our country illegally.
To be clear, the dispute over executive amnesty is not between President Obama and Republicans in Congress; it is a dispute between President Obama and the American People. The Democrats suffered historic losses in the midterm elections largely over the prospect of the President’s executive amnesty.
President Obama was correct: His policies were on the ballot across the nation in 2014. The elections were a referendum on amnesty, and the voters soundly rejected it. There was no ambiguity.
Undeterred, President Obama appears to be going forward. It is lawless. It is unconstitutional. He is defiant and angry at the American people. If he acts by executive diktat, President Obama will not be acting as a president, he will be acting as a monarch.
Thankfully, the framers of our Constitution, wary of the dangers of monarchy, gave the Congress tools to rein in abuses of power. They believed if the President wants to change the law, he cannot act alone; he must work with Congress.
He may not get everything he wants, but the Constitution requires compromise between the branches.
A monarch, however, does not compromise. As Alexander Hamilton explains in Federalist 69, a monarch decrees, dictates, and rules through fiat power, which is what President Obama is attempting.
When the President embraces the tactics of a monarch, it becomes incumbent on Congress to wield the constitutional power it has to stop it.
Congress, representing the voice of the People, should use every tool available to prevent the President from subverting the rule of law.
When the President usurps the legislative power and defies the limits of his authority, it becomes all the more imperative for Congress to act. And Congress should use those powers given to it by the Constitution to counter a lawless executive branch—or it will lose its authority.
If the President announces executive amnesty, the new Senate Majority Leader who takes over in January should announce that the 114th Congress will not confirm a single nominee—executive or judicial—outside of vital national security positions, so long as the illegal amnesty persists.
This is a potent tool given to Congress by the Constitution explicitly to act as a check on executive power. It is a constitutional power of the Majority Leader alone, and it would serve as a significant deterrent to a lawless President.
Additionally, the new Congress should exercise the power of the purse by passing individual appropriations bills authorizing critical functions of government and attaching riders to strip the authority from the president to grant amnesty.
President Obama will no doubt threaten a shutdown—that seems to be the one card he repeatedly plays—but Congress can authorize funding for agencies of government one at a time. If the President is unwilling to accept funding for, say, the Department of Homeland Security without his being able to unilaterally defy the law, he alone will be responsible for the consequences.
A presidential temper tantrum is not an acceptable means of discourse.
Of course, these confrontations are not desirable, and it is unbecoming for an American president to show such condescension towards the voters.
The American people, however, are not powerless. They have elected a new Congress full of members who have promised in their campaigns to stand up to this lawless President and stop the amnesty. We must honor our commitments.
If the President will not respect the people, Congress must.
Ted Cruz is a U.S. senator from Texas.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/11/president-obama-is-not-a-monarch-113028.html#ixzz3JYDpfv2I
Is Sessions being replaced with Enzi from Wyoming? Seniority and all that....
Sounds like Abbott will be on board:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/rick-perry-barack-obama-113033.html
Do you hear that, you GOP capons cowering out there trying to find a way to either compromise or ignore this latest outrage by a President who is trying walking all over us to gain the reins of an Emperor?
You have the Constitutional power and responsibility. We The People DEMAND you use it!!!
I was gonna say rainbow butterfly with hints of unicorn.
Very good description.
I know that, and I have been screaming since December 2010. It gets harder the longer you wait. Goodlatte in WSJ today and now Ted still talking withholding funding and passing legislation.
It’s not enough guys. The only thing that may move this process along is impeachment.
Maybe as long as he didn’t say “impeach.” What is so scary about that word? That it makes more work for Congress? Retaliation from a lawless “president”?
What are we going to do then with all the illegals who have new jobs, insurance, documentation, leases, and bank accounts? The executive action can be revoked but not the consequences so easily.
Yes. And .. just when the House needs a strong hand to deal with Obama’s folly.
Enzi has already said he’s going to oust Sessions.
THIS IS NOT GOOD.
We need to burn up the phone lines and let people know we are totally against this change.
Yep
Immigrant legislation is obviously under the Congressional...
If Buckwheat announces amnesty for invaders, our primary fight will be against the mercenary Secret Service traitors who guard Buckwheat.
The SS has pitched its tent in the enemy camp for cash,. goodies and retirement.
Unlike most, I had the pleasure of confronting the SS when I was an active duty Marine. They ran like dogs with their tails between their legs.
Get the Hollywood picture of the Invincible Secret Service out of your heads. All the SS traitors care about is getting home safe at night and collecting a fat taxpayer pension.
After all is said and done, wouldn’t it be amusing if obama’s petulence caused a lasting resurgence of states’ rights?
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