Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Monday introduced legislation to overturn Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration, which he believes “blatantly [ignores] the separations of powers and the principles our country was founded on”:
The bill, called “Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act,” points out that Obama has said at least 22 times before that he cannot ignore existing immigration law, nor can he create his own.
“I believe that the Constitution is clear that the legislative power resides in Congress. The President is not a king and he does not have the power to enact laws then execute his own laws. Our Constitution is being violated by this executive order and other actions by the Obama Administration to govern by executive fiat,” the Kentucky Republican said in a statement Friday.
“President Obama’s grant of deferred action […] is without any constitution or statutory basis,” the bill says.
There’s no word on if and when the bill will be brought to a vote. Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) introduced a companion bill in the House that passed 219-197 on Dec. 4.
