Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday urged incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to withhold Senate consideration of appointees nominated by President Obama — outside “vital” national security hires — in response to administration action to unilaterally grant temporary legal status and work permits to 4.1 million undocumented immigrants.

“In my view, the majority leader should decline to bring to the floor of the Senate a nomination other than vital national security positions. That is a serious and major step,” the Texas Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The second big check we’ve got is the power of the purse, and we should fund, one at a time, the critical priorities of the federal government.”