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 Presidents 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 branchor 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 nomineeexecutive or judicialoutside 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 shutdownthat seems to be the one card he repeatedly playsbut 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
Here is what should immediately happen.
All of the states with Republican legislatures and governors should go into emergency session and pass legislation in their states explicitly denying these illegal aliens access to state programs and services, essentially refusing to recognize Obama's executive order.
State can cite Article I Section 8 "To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;" and say that Obama's actions are unconstitutional because: 1) they are not uniform, and 2) the power belongs to Congress, and the states are following the laws passed by Congress.
When Obama pushes back like he did the last time in Arizona, the states can say that the Courts already ruled that there needs to be one set of laws for all the states to follow, and that set comes from Congress.
Get as many states as possible to rush through this legislation, and make Obama fight all the state legislatures and governors over this. Get the states to tell Obama that they no longer recognize his authority to act on immigration.
Anything that Congress wants to do on this matter is just icing on the cake. The states are where the fight is.
30+ state legislatures against 1 arrogant dictator.
Take the fight to Obama via the authority of the states.
-PJ
Gowdy’s rep was pleased to listen to me; I reminded him, though, that Biden would be way better than 0bummer.
NO WAY.
OMG, there are Democrats, and then there are Democrats. Take your pick.
States-start form infantry divisions.....
He's a monarch if nobody stops him.
Hildy, read PJ2's idea.
Well said, Mr. Cruz
Yes, I always get through to Gowdy’s office.
His staff is very good; same for Jeff Sessions’ office.
Since I have three reps all Dems(I’m in DE), I call their offices just to talk to sane people.
Okay. I like your idea. How do we make this happen? Realistically.
I have a hunch that Obama’s usurpation of power is not going to go over well in flyover country and maybe not even in urban areas where unemployment is already sky high. There will be a small slice of the electorate who will approve of what he’s doing, but most are going to be spitting mad.
He is sitting at 37% approval and support for executive amnesty is even lower than that.
It’s clear he’s trying to split the GOP into warring factions so that they will not unite heading into 2016. He’s hoping for third party candidates to emerge for president and for state offices.
The GOP can’t take the bait. They must find common ground and a common strategy which both accomplishes a pushback and also preserves unity for the next two years. Let the cooler heads prevail. Obama would LOVE impeachment proceedings and a government shutdown.
If the GOP wins the presidency in 2016, all of Obama’s edicts can be rolled back with a stroke of the pen.
Well said.
If the GOP allows this to stand, they fully share some of the blame for America devolving into a third-world dictatorship.
I’d most like to see some of the Republican-led states to lead the way, their governors proclaiming they will not acknowledge Obama’s lawless dictates. Any work-permits for illegals being null-and-void within their states’ borders.
--Jefferson Davis President CSA
I agree with you. Let Rick Perry lead the charge.
Well, he did have those columns at the first coronation. Should have been a clue.
Are the Networks going to Ignore his speech ?
A moth maybe, but certainly no monarch...
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