“Is that an executive order?” the anchor asked.
“I’m going to do a big executive order. I have the power to do it as president and I’m going to make DACA a part of it,” Trump responded. “But, we put it in, and we’ll probably going to then be taking it out. We’re working out the legal complexities right now, but I’m going to be signing a very major immigration bill as an executive order, which Supreme Court now, because of the DACA decision, has given me the power to do that.”
Asked whether the executive order would provide temporary relief for DACA recipients, Trump said its scope would be much wider.
“No, what I’m going to do is that they’re going to part of a much bigger bill on immigration. It’s going to be a very big bill, a very good bill, and merit-based bill and it will include DACA, and I think people are going to be very happy,” said Trump.
“But one of the aspects of the bill is going to be DACA. We’re going to have a road to citizenship,” he added.
The comments sparked immediate outrage among conservatives and allies of the administration who have been expecting Trump to rescind DACA following the Supreme Court ruling.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) warned on Twitter that it would be “a HUGE mistake” if Trump were to create a path citizenship via executive order.