House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said it would be “lawless” and “dangerous” if President Obama attempted to use executive authority to bring the prisoners now held in Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
“Even as Islamic jihadists are beheading Americans, the White House is so eager to bring these terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to the United States that it is examining ways to thwart Congress and unilaterally re-write the law,” Boehner said in a statement.
Obama is weighing a plan to close the prison, which holds 149 inmates accused of being connected to terrorist acts including the Sept. 11, 2001 attack, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The president is reportedly looking for ways to circumvent a law banning him from bringing the prisoners to the United States.
Congress inserted the ban in a 2010 Defense Authorization measure that has been renewed each year since, and Obama has signed the legislation.
But the president has repeatedly expressed determination to close the prison and it was a major promise he made on the campaign trail.
Many Democrats also support closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, though not all back bringing the prisoners to the United States.
