Gourment Dan wrote above:
[[ Of course, should the States actually do this, the Federal response will be to mobilize the U.S. military against the States and in protection of the illegals... ]]
You can count on this happening.
Texas' response to any order from the Obama administration to "cease and desist" their border protection operation should be met with a very public statement (which would have to come from Perry), to the effect: "come down here and STOP us!"
If I was Perry, I'd also say (very publicly), how are things going to look on tv when the soldiers of the federal government fire on Texans trying to defend their borders and their state from an alien invasion ??
I sense that at that point, there would be quite a few VERY uncomfortable officers in the United States military.
Honest question to anyone here (and that may include former military officers):
Who wants to go down in history as the first officer to order that his troops fire on fellow soldier/Americans ??
My prediction is that if Texas displays the gumption to really do something at the border (of which as yet we have seen no hard evidence), it's going to play out like the Cliven Bundy episode up in Nevada. There, it was ordinary citizens against the feds. But Texas will be different, with the full power of the state (perhaps with citizens, as well) vs. the federals.
Who's gonna back down now?