CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Executive Order on Immigration

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BALDWIN: So you heard him. They will proceed. They will do something. In the meantime, maybe they're just venting. They vented this morning at Jeh Johnson, the president's chief of homeland security, who contended over and over that, no, President Obama, did not cross lines or blur laws in the executive order last month that stems deportations of otherwise law-abiding immigrants who entered this country illegally.

So, to Washington we go to a Democrat who was in on that hearing. She's the second-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, Loretta Sanchez of California.

Congresswoman, great to have you on.

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you, Brooke. Great to be here.

BALDWIN: So we have just gotten word of what looks to be this emerging plan, a challenge to the president on immigration, no impeachment, no formal censure. That's been floated.

We're also hearing maybe they want to tinker with some funding, maybe debate a resolution declaring the president is breaking the law.

Congresswoman Sanchez, what would you say to that?

SANCHEZ: I would hope that the Republicans would come to the table and start working on a reform with us to pass a law.

The president did not change the law. The current law exists. What he did was say, you know, there are -- there are limited resources, and I want to use those resources on getting the bad guys out of our country first. And for those who have families, real family ties to this country, we're not going to go after you. That's all he said.

He didn't do much more than that. So he didn't change the law. He just prioritized what he wants to do. And he's allowed to do that.

BALDWIN: You know what? On that point, speaking of changing the law, I want everyone to hear this. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: What do you say to someone who believes the president took action to change the law?

JEH JOHNSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We did not change the law. We acted within the law.

CHAFFETZ: Can you play the clip? This is from November 25. This is the president in Nevada talking about this.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But what you're not paying attention to is the fact that I just took an action to change the law.

CHAFFETZ: So you say he didn't change the law, but the president says he changed the law.

JOHNSON: He acted within existing law. He acted within our existing legal authority. Listen, I have been a lawyer 30 years. Somebody plays me an eight-word excerpt from a broader speech, I know to be suspicious.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK.

So you hear the eight-word excerpt. You see the suspicion on Jeh Johnson's face. But, I mean, it does sound clear as day. The president told the law -- he told the crowd that he changed the law. Was he misspeaking there?

SANCHEZ: Well, I will tell you one thing about Jeh Johnson, OK? I worked with him. Besides Homeland Security, I'm also number two on the Armed Services Committee for the Democrats.

He was over at the Department of Defense. He was their chief lawyer. He is an incredibly great lawyer, Secretary Johnson. And we approached him and we said, there are things within the law, we believe, that the president can do. When I say we, I mean, the Hispanic Caucus, who has always been the champion for immigrants in this country.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Congresswoman, let me just stop you there, because the question isn't about Jeh Johnson. It's about the president. Was he misspeaking?

SANCHEZ: Well, again, I don't know, and I wasn't there to understand what the discourse was before that, just as Secretary Johnson said.

But I will tell you this. Secretary Johnson is a great lawyer, and he does not cross the law. You know, we have pushed him and we pushed him, and where he could not go against the law, he certainly did not. All of this that the president's doing was constructed -- the chief architect of it is Secretary Johnson.

And I have a lot of faith in his abilities to stay within the law.

BALDWIN: OK. All right.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, thank you for your time today in Washington. I appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source