GOP lawmakers were quick to condemn President Barack Obama’s plan to dramatically increase deportation relief for an estimated 4.4 million undocumented immigrants, announced Thursday.
In his speech Obama said, “The actions I’m taking are not only lawful, they’re the kinds of actions taken by every single Republican president and every Democratic president for the past half century. And to those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill.”
The reaction from GOP lawmakers was swift if not predictable. A report in the Huffington Post by Sam Levine detailed many of these responses:
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the president was more interested in playing politics on immigration than working with lawmakers.
“By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left,” Boehner said in a statement on Thursday.
In a video on her Facebook page, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) said Obama was “giving the middle finger” to voters.
Texas governor-elect Greg Abbott (R) said in a statement that he would “immediately challenge” Obama’s plan in court. Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio also said he would file a lawsuit against the president over the executive action.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said Obama’s announcement amounted to a declaration of war on the United States.
“President Obama has put the interests of an extreme wing of his party above the interests of American workers. Some have said that the actions he is taking this week equal a declaration of war on Republicans,” Smith said in a statement. “I believe he is actually declaring war on the American people and our democracy.”
Appearing on CNN, former Republican House Speaker and 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Obama’s remarks were “a Gruber speech,” referring to Jonathan Gruber, the MIT professor who has recently come under scrutiny for suggesting that the “stupidity of the American voter” helped pass the Affordable Care Act.
While Republicans have said that Obama is acting outside of his constitutional authority, legal experts, including some conservatives, have said that Obama has the authority to act on his own, the report concluded.
