http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/sen-jeff-sessions-congress-must-prohibit-funding-unilateral-obama-amnestySen. Jeff Sessions: Congress Must Prohibit Funding for Unilateral Obama Amnesty
November 7, 2014 - 7:51 AM
By Susan Jones
(CNSNews.com) - Granting "executive amnesty" to millions of people who came to the U.S. illegally "needs to be stopped," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) told Fox News's Megyn Kelly Thursday night.
"Congress simply has to bar the expenditure of any money to carry out such a scheme because it would be a very expensive scheme," Sessions said.
"How do you shut down funding for a deferred prosecution?" Kelly asked.
"Well, it's real easy," Sessions replied. He noted that in granting deferred deportation for hundreds of thousands of young "dreamers," the Obama administration "gave those individuals ID cards with the words 'work authorization' on it, and gave them the power to take a job, which is improper and contrary to what the laws of the United States are.
"And so now the president is saying he's going to do up to five to six million more. And so Congress simply has to bar the expenditure of any money to carry out such a scheme because it would be a very expensive scheme. And we do that all the time."
(Sessions mentioned that the detention center at Guantanamo Bay would have closed a long time ago if Congress hadn't barred the president from spending money to do that.)
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told Fox News's Sean Hannity Thursday night that he, Sessions, and four other Republican senators "think it's important for us to refuse to fund the president in his attempt to violate the law."
If Obama does what many people expect him to do -- issue greens cards to millions of illegal aliens -- "that's not OK. That's not lawful," Lee said. "And we'll do everything we can to stop him, including withholding funds from his ability to carry out that project."
Lee admitted that Republicans are "at a disadvantage" until January, when they take control of Congress.
"Look, we just had a big election the other day. Americans showed up across the country and...they did not vote to support the president's agenda. They did not vote to support the president's lawless approach to the Constitution. They deserve to have their wishes respected, and I'm going to do everything I can to fight to make sure that happens."
'Plenty of tools'
Sessions said "no" to impeachment, adding that Congress has "plenty of tools" to use if Obama does exceed his constitutional authority on immigration.
"Look, the American people have pleaded with Congress and presidents for 30 years. They've asked, pleaded and demanded, really, a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest."
Such a system would not depress wages or deny Americans jobs that they'd otherwise be able to take, he said. "We absolutely need to do that. And I would say the American people are overwhelmingly in favor of that."
Sessions is one of six Republican senators who have written to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), warning him that "President Obama will be exercising powers properly belonging to Congress if he makes good on his threat" to impose executive amnesty.
"This will create a constitutional crisis that demands action by Congress to restore the separation of powers,” wrote Sens. Sessions, Ted Cruz (Texas); Mike Crapo (Idaho); Mike Lee (Utah); Pat Roberts (Kan.); and David Vitter (La.).
