House Republicans are warning President Obama to refrain from taking executive action on immigration policy, which White House officials said will happen on Friday.
“If ‘Emperor Obama’ ignores the American people and announces an amnesty plan that he himself has said over and over again exceeds his constitutional authority, he will cement his legacy of lawlessness and ruin the chances for congressional action on this issue, and many others,” said Michael Steele, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Boehner has issued several public warnings to Obama about taking executive action on immigration, telling the president the move would make it impossible for Congress to work with him on a broader reform plan.
Reports indicate the president may use executive action to spare millions of illegal immigrants from deportation and provide them with work permits and other legal benefits.
Boehner wants the president to hold off taking unilateral action so the House and Republican-majority Senate can work on an immigration reform plan in the new Congress.
House Republicans are now working on a way to try to block the president’s executive action, possibly by withholding money for it in the government funding bill that must pass by Dec. 11.
The Republican National Committee is seeking public signatures on an email petition to “Stop Obama’s Executive Amnesty Order.”
So far, 8,797 have signed the online petition, the RNC reports.
The president said he has waited long enough for Congress to act.
The Senate passed a bipartisan immigration reform in 2012 and the House has refused to consider it.
