http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=A2214D26-DB03-4D15-BC50-E66F46DA1F62 John McCain: 'Pleading' with President Obama
By: Jonathan Topaz
November 6, 2014 01:04 PM EST
Sen. John McCain on Thursday said he is “pleading” with President Barack Obama not to issue an executive order on immigration and instead allow Congress to sort out potential legislation.
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” the Arizona Republican implored the White House to give the newly elected Congress an opportunity to debate immigration reform and try to settle on a bill.
“I literally am pleading with the president of the United States not to act,” McCain said. “Give it a chance. We’ve got a new Congress. We’ve got a new mandate. Let’s let the House of Representatives decide if they want to move forward on immigration reform or not.”
McCain was one of four Republican members of the so-called Gang of Eight, the bipartisan group of senators that crafted the immigration bill that ultimately passed the Senate last year. The bill has since been stalled in the House for more than a year.
In a Wednesday news conference at the White House following the midterm elections — during which Republicans took control of the Senate and made major gains in the House — Obama vowed that he would take executive action on immigration “before the end of the year.” He previously delayed an executive order until after the elections, a move to protect red state Democrats that irked immigration advocates.
On Thursday, McCain suggested that an executive order would be a significant roadblock to legislative action. “It’ll be a devastating blow if he acts unilaterally with executive order,” the senator said of Obama. GOP lawmakers have mostly criticized a potential Obama executive order as circumventing their constitutional authority, and likely incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it would be like “waving a red flag in front of a bull.”
Earlier in the program, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said an executive order would be a “catalyst” for legislative action and that the president would nullify it if Congress passed an immigration bill — an idea McCain dismissed.
“For Denis McDonough — who I admire and like — to say, well, if the Congress acts, then they can negate an executive order — that’s not how the government is supposed to run,” he said.
