INVASION USA

CRUZ: JUDGE'S RULING 'TURNING POINT' IN AMNESTY BATTLE

Order stalling 'lawless' executive action unites GOP

Garth Kant

WASHINGTON – Establishment Republicans and conservatives are united in praising a federal judge’s order to at least temporarily stop Obama’s executive amnesty.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, one of the main opponents of amnesty called the ruling a “major turning point in the fight to stop Obama’s lawless amnesty.”

“This is a major victory for the rule of law; the District Court’s ruling states that President Obama must now stop implementing these policies in ‘any and all aspects,’” said the Harvard Law School graduate from Texas.

“Last summer we saw a humanitarian crisis on our southern border that was a direct consequence of Obama’s previous amnesty. Republicans are now standing together to try to ensure that it never happens again,” he added.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, “This ruling underscores what the President has already acknowledged publicly 22 times: He doesn’t have the authority to take the kinds of actions he once referred to as ‘ignoring the law’ and ‘unwise and unfair.’”

The GOP establishment leader also observed, “Senate Democrats — especially those who’ve voiced opposition to the President’s executive overreach — should end their partisan filibuster of Department of Homeland Security funding.”

That was a reference to a bill passed by the House of Representatives that would fund all of the operations of the Department of Homeland Security, but explicitly prevents any money to be spent implementing Obama’s amnesty.

Senate Democrats have used a filibuster to prevent the bill from coming up for a vote in the GOP-controlled chamber.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, observed, “The ruling certainly increases the pressure on Democrats who are now not only blocking DHS funding to protect the president but also to preserve an action that has been ruled unconstitutional.”

“It is an unsustainable position for Senate Democrats. The policy, politics, and the people are with the Republicans. It’s the Democrats who need a Plan B,” added Lee.

Late Monday, WND broke the story that a federal judge in Texas blocked President Obama’s executive action providing amnesty for at least five million illegal immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen wrote that the 26 states that brought the suit would “suffer irreparable harm” if the amnesty went into effect and that “the genie would be impossible to put back in the bottle” because the amnesty order would be “virtually irreversible.”

The White House will now appeal Hanen’s decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The administration released a statement that claimed, “The district court’s decision wrongly prevents these lawful, commonsense policies from taking effect.”

The reaction from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio echoed that of McConnell.

“The president said 22 times he did not have the authority to take the very action on immigration he eventually did, so it is no surprise that at least one court has agreed,” Boehner remarked. “Hopefully, Senate Democrats who claim to oppose this executive overreach will now let the Senate begin debate on a bill to fund the Homeland Security Department.”

With lawmakers back in their home states consulting constituents this week, reaction was just beginning to build on Tuesday morning.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the ruling “reinforces” GOP claims “that President Obama acted outside the law when he went around Congress to unilaterally change our nation’s immigration laws.”

“Today’s victory is an important one, but the fight to reverse the President’s unconstitutional overreach is not over,” Cornyn said. “The President must respect the rule of law and fully obey the court’s ruling.”

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said, “The federal court’s ruling is further evidence that President Obama’s executive amnesty is clearly unlawful. The President simply does not have the authority to unilaterally suspend deportations and grant work permits to millions of illegal aliens.”

“Executive amnesty is not fair to immigrants who have come to this country lawfully or unemployed Americans who will have to compete for jobs with illegal aliens,” she also noted.

The American Center for Law & Justice, which represents 68 members of Congress, called the ruling a “significant victory against the president’s unconstitutional overreach.”

Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, wrote, “We are extremely pleased the court concluded what we have argued from the start: the president overstepped his authority by changing the law and setting new immigration policy. The manner in which the President acted is unconstitutional, unlawful and a violation of the separation of powers. Impatient presidents don’t get to change the law.”

Sekulow also noted that Judge Hanen accused Obama administration officials of being “disingenuous” when they said the president’s initiatives did not significantly alter existing policies.

Judge Hanen called the programs “a massive change in immigration practice” that would change “the nation’s entire immigration scheme and the states who must bear the lion’s share of its consequences.”

The ACLJ has filed a “friend of the court,” or amicus, brief, signed by 68 members of Congress which concluded the “Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits because the DHS (Deptartment of Homeland Security) directive violates the Constitution, disrupts the separation of powers, and amounts to an abdication of their constitutional and statutory duty.”

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Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/cruz-judges-ruling-turning-point-in-amnesty-battle/#cWd0tJWbyLK41LyJ.99