Liberal senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin questioned Barack Obama’s plan to use executive action on immigration Monday on CNN’s “News Room,” saying that the president’s employment of his power doesn’t quite align with the Constitution.
Specifically, he referred to Obama’s comment that he only resorts to executive orders when we have “a serious issue and Congress chooses to do nothing.”
“Well, that’s not necessarily the way the Constitution set it up,” explained Toobin on CNN. “He can only act when Article II of the Constitution says the president has the authority. He can’t allocate money. … He can allocate money that’s already been appropriated by Congress, but he can’t appropriate money himself. So, he is treading potentially on treacherous legal grounds here.”
According to his speech Monday, Obama plans to use his executive power to enact immigration reform. He laid blame for the lack of progress here on the Republican House, labeling them “unwilling to stand up to the Tea Party.”
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) — undoubtedly along with many GOP members of Congress — is fuming at the president’s announcement.
“The president’s own executive orders have led directly to the humanitarian crisis along the Southern border, giving false hope to children and their families that if they enter the country illegally they will be allowed to stay,” Boehner said in a press release. “The White House claims it will move to return these children to their families in their home countries, yet additional executive action from this president isn’t going to stem the tide of illegal crossings, it’s only going to make them worse.”
Yet another threat of such executive action only gives fuel to the lawsuit that Boehner plans to file against the president on behalf of the House for his inappropriate use of power.
