In his farewell address, President George Washington warned about the danger of political parties. Today we are witnessing Washington’s premonition play out in spectacular fashion.
Just how unconstitutional is Obama’s unilateral action to create an entire immigration program for 5 million illegal aliens?
Even Obama himself, a president who has a zealous penchant for ruling by administrative fiat, said explicitly on 22 occasions that it is unlawful. He even compared his unilateral action to the acts of a king or emperor. Yet, he insidiously waited until after the last election of his presidency to issue an executive amnesty.
Obama’s amnesty action is nothing short of nullification of our most bedrock laws – those governing our borders and sovereignty. Article I Section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the plenary power over immigration. Even the Supreme Court has held that the formation of any immigration policy “is entrusted exclusive to Congress,”[1] and “[t]he plenary authority of Congress over aliens . . . is not open to question.”[2]
No president has the authority to blackmail Congress into passing his immigration priorities.
This president is engaging in a one-man nullification process of foundational laws passed by multiple Congresses – all out in the open.
How unprecedented is this imperial order?
The administration and its allies have propagated a defense of prosecutorial discretion using the law to rationalize Obama’s acts. They assert that with limited resources they need to focus on illegal alien felons. But what he is doing is far more than prioritizing criminal aliens over peaceful aliens, he is issuing a prima facie legal status, and nullifying the underlying laws with the stroke of a pen.
This is tantamount to a president legalizing tax fraud instead of merely prioritizing those cases that represent the biggest threat to our tax system.
Moreover, the claim that he is doing this to focus on criminals instead of cynically importing a new voting constituency doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Last year, the administration released 36,000 convicted criminal aliens from jail, including murderers and rapists. Another 167,000 criminal aliens who were ordered deported are still at large, and 341,000 criminal aliens released by ICE without deportation orders are known to be free and at large in the US.
It’s quite evident this has nothing to do with discretion or prioritization; this is wholesale nullification of the law.
What’s worse, this goes far beyond simply nullifying our immigration laws. Obama is positively creating his own programs, processes, and applications to grant illegals work permits, social security cards, in-state tuition, and driver’s licenses. Additionally, there are several fast-track paths in this edict that will enable some of them to obtain green cards. Obama is now demanding that Customs and Border Protection agents actively seek out illegal immigrants and help them obtain eligibility for his unconstitutional program.
Meanwhile, Obama’s previous amnesties have already directed immigration officials to ignore legal applications in favor of illegal ones. This new mega-order will create a bureaucratic nightmare that will collapse the viability of our legal system. Imagine a Republican president issuing a tax amnesty that forces IRS officials to fast-track processing for the amnestied tax units while delaying the tax refunds for law abiding citizens.
When contrasting the divergent roles of a king and a president, Alexander Hamilton wrote the following in Federalist #69: “The one [a president] can confer no privileges whatever; the other [the king] can make denizens of aliens.”
It is clear from our founders’ statements as well as Obama’s own speeches that his proclamation is not only unconstitutional, it is an act of an imperial monarch.
It is clear from our founders’ statements as well as Obama’s own speeches that his proclamation is not only unconstitutional, it is an act of an imperial monarch.
In the aftermath of Obama’s executive amnesty, there is much focus on the GOP response. But this is not a Republican issue. This is a constitutional crisis that undermines our system of governance, irrespective of one’s political views. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and even members of the media must rise to the occasion and demand that Obama return the power that he has seized illegitimately.
The constitution provides Congress with two major checks against an imperial presidency; the power of the purse and advice and consent on presidential nominees. Yet, how do Democrats interpret this? By now opposing a bill that funds all lawful aspects of DHS – all but the unlawful amnesty. This should supersede any policy disagreements between the parties. This should be a battle between the legislature and the executive branch. Sadly, as George Washington portended over 200 years ago, party now trumps the rule of law and our constitution itself.
Read more Daniel Horowitz at ConservativeReview.com
3 comments:
You left out impeachment, which is the proper action against a President who does not "faithfully execute the laws".
But that will only collide with the Democratic Party also.
These lunatics are only as strong as the opposition is weak.
Considering just who is hogging the leadership positions of the GOP - and the fact we GOP voters tolerate it - the lunatics are in a very strong position indeed.
Every Senator has sworn to protect and defend the Constitution. Obama has said over 20 times that he could not Constitutionally do waht he is now proceeding to do. The vote on H.R. 240 should be a nonpartisan event.
Just a couple decades ago, Democrat Senators would have put what was best for the country over what was best for the Party. This is no longer true. It's beginning to look like the fundamental transformation Obama and the Democrats want is to transform the USA into Russia.
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