This reminds me of one of the first actions taken by President Carter upon his election. He issued a blanket pardon to all draft dodgers and deserters from the Vietnam War period. This resulted in many undeserving individuals becoming eligible for benefits as honorably discharged veterans. Since his action was under the presidential pardon power, Congress could not stop him, but they immediately enacted legislation specifying that a discharge issued as the result of the Presidential pardon would not qualify a person for veterans benefits. He might not have liked it, but there was nothing he could do.
Any president has a lot of power if he desires to push the issue, however, Congress has the power to trump him on almost any issue if they want to. Just as President Carter’s phony military discharges were rendered worthless, an Oboma green card could also be made meaningless.
But does today's Congress (the 111th) have as much backbone as the 95th?
Funny thing. Wikipedia mentions how much more powerful the Presidency has grown in the 20th-21st century, but doesn't mention BO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress
The Constitution provides checks and balances among the three branches of the federal government. The authors of the Constitution expected the greater power to lie with Congress as described in Article One.[17]
The influence of Congress on the presidency has varied from one period to another; the degree of power depending largely on the leadership of the Congress, political influence by the president, or other members of congress and the boldness of the president's initiatives. Under the first half-dozen presidents, power seems to have been evenly divided between the president and Congress, in part because early presidents largely restricted their vetoes to bills that were unconstitutional.
The impeachment of Andrew Johnson made the presidency much less powerful than Congress. During the late 19th century, President Grover Cleveland aggressively attempted to restore the executive branch's power, vetoing over 400 bills during his first term. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen the rise of the power of the Presidency under Theodore Roosevelt (1901–09), Woodrow Wilson (1913–21), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–45), Richard Nixon (1969–74), Ronald Reagan (1981–89), and George W. Bush (2001–09) (see Imperial Presidency).[18] In recent years, Congress has restricted the powers of the President with laws such as the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the War Powers Resolution; nevertheless, the Presidency remains considerably more powerful than during the 19th century.[18]