Upholding the Rule of Law

Statement

Friends,

As you know, there is an ongoing debate over the legality of President Obama's unprecedented executive action to grant amnesty to nearly 5 million illegal immigrants. I stand firm in my belief that President Obama's actions are not only unconstitutional, but also against the will of the American people. The President's lawless actions reward those who come here illegally at the expense of legal immigrants who are following the law and waiting in line; these actions threaten American jobs by giving work permits to illegal immigrants over American workers; and these actions make it harder to deport convicted child predators by downgrading their priority for deportation. Even more than that, President Obama's illegal executive order does nothing to address the root causes of our broken immigration system. I remain focused on permanent, meaningful reforms that will stop the flow of illegal immigrants and secure the border first.

Regardless of which side of the issue you stand on, we should all agree that the President of the United States does not have the legal standing to act as the legislative and judicial branches. In fact, the President himself has said 22 times that he does not have the authority to circumvent Congress and your demands by unilaterally changing or ignoring our nation's immigration laws. To quote him directly, President Obama said in 2010, "... I am obliged to execute the law. That's what the Executive Branch means. I can't just make the laws up by myself." Nonetheless, he chose to overstep his authority and defy our constitution by single-handedly rewriting our immigration laws.

I'm not the only one who holds this view -- like-minded folks in the legislative and judicial branches who believe in upholding our constitution have worked tirelessly to block President Obama's lawless actions. In fact, just last week a Texas judge issued an injunction halting federal agencies from implementing the President's illegal amnesty policies. This ruling reinforces what the American people and lawmakers have been saying all along -- the President's actions are unconstitutional. While Judge Hanen's action in Texas is encouraging and a major turning point in this critical debate, it is only a temporary measure. A lengthy legal battle looms, which is why Congress must put a permanent halt on executive amnesty by defunding it immediately.

Knowing this, my colleagues and I in the House of Representatives passed a bill in January that bans funds from being used to carry out President Obama's illegal amnesty while funding every lawful activity of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Unfortunately, a small group of Democrats in the Senate have decided they would prefer to put our national security at risk by shutting down DHS rather than defunding President Obama's illegal amnesty program. At a time when the entire world is in crisis, it is appalling that this group would put our national security at risk by blocking this bill in the Senate.

As threats to our security continue to grow and evolve, it is utterly irresponsible for Senate Democrats to hold DHS funding hostage and block debate on such a critical bill. When faced with the decision to equip our Homeland Security department with the necessary tools to protect our nation or grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, Senate Democrats are making the wrong choice. I encourage them to act in the best interest of our nation and vote on this bill.

As I continue to fight to defend our constitution and uphold the rule of law, I can assure you that I'm listening to your concerns. Please continue to call, write and e-mail me at Hudson.House.gov.


Until next week,

Richard Hudson
Member of Congress (NC-08)

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