WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama’s announcement of sweeping changes to the nation’s immigration system is likely to lead to a battle over their legality. Is he on solid legal ground?
For months the White House and Obama’s supporters have insisted that he has the authority to direct immigration authorities to exercise discretion in deciding which immigrants in the country illegally will face deportation and which won’t.
“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,” Obama said Thursday night.
But Republicans in Congress disagree with the White House view. They’re calling Obama’s plan an unconstitutional power grab.
“The president seems intent on provoking a constitutional crisis by adopting policies that he previously said were illegal,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said.