Griffin Opposes Obama's "Emperor' Approach and Unilateral Decision on Immigration

Press Release

Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement today after the President took executive action on immigration:

"On multiple occasions, President Obama has stated that using executive action to implement immigration reform would be unconstitutional, and in 2013, the President said he is "not the emperor' of the U.S. Yet, in true emperor fashion, the President issued a unilateral decision that circumvents the constitutional role of Congress and fails to present a long-term solution to our broken immigration system. This illegal action insults the majority of the American people who voted on November 4th to reject the President's go-it-alone policies, which he also stated were "on the ballot.' I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress to prevent the President from implementing this unconstitutional and illegal action."

On July 25, 2011, President Obama described the sort of actions he is now taking as unconstitutional:

"I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own. … Not just on immigration reform. But that's not how our system works. That's not how our democracy functions. That's not how our Constitution is written."

Also on February 14, 2013, he further stated:

"The problem is that I'm the president of the United States, I'm not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed."

On September 17, 2014, President Obama said:

"[I]f we start broadening that [executive actions], then essentially I would be ignoring the law in a way that I think would be very difficult to defend legally. So that's not an option."

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