Earlier this year, President Obama vowed to circumvent Congress with his pen and his phone. He has since used this unilateral power on several occasions despite the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling that some of his actions are unconstitutional. And now it appears as though the President’s most ardent supporters are condemning the blatant disregard of the balance of power.
On radio this morning, Glenn reacted to a new op-ed from the Washington Post in which the paper's editorial board explains why President Obama cannot act unilaterally on immigration just because he is tired of the partisan gridlock.
In an article entitled “Frustration over stalled immigration action doesn’t mean Obama can act unilaterally” published on Tuesday, the historically leftist editorial board explains the danger of acting unconstitutionally purely for the political boost it would provide Democrats in the upcoming midterm election and in 2016.
Below is an excerpt from the editorial:
STYMIED BY congressional paralysis, President Obama is reportedly considering unilateral action to address — though surely not fix — the nation’s immigration policy mess and the more recent surge of minors streaming across the southwestern border.
[…]
Obstinate, hopelessly partisan and incapable of problem-solving, Congress is a mess. But that doesn’t grant the president license to tear up the Constitution. As Mr. Obama himself said last fall: “If, in fact, I could solve all these problems without passing laws in Congress, then I would do so. But we’re also a nation of laws.” To act on his own, the president said, would violate those laws.
Mr. Obama now seems to be jettisoning that stance in the name of rallying his political base […] Conceivably, this would give Democrats a political boost in 2016. Just as conceivably, it would trigger a constitutional showdown with congressional Republicans, who could make a cogent argument that Mr. Obama had overstepped his authority.
The president should think twice.
Read the entire article HERE.
As Glenn explained, the only thing that is actually going to solve the immigration crisis is the legitimate enforcement of the laws that are already on the books. Instead, President Obama has taken to passing executive actions that allow him to circumvent the law.
“All we have to do is enforce the laws. We have laws – more than enough laws. All we have to do is enforce them,” Glenn said. “[But] that's one of the executive orders. ‘I don't have to enforce this law.’ What? No, you do have to enforce [the law]. You don't have to like the law. [But] that's when you, as president, go out and try to change the law [constitutionally].”
Ultimately, Democrats and Republicans alike have taken to prioritizing political expediency over principles and that trend must change.
“What everybody is doing is focusing not on our values but on our political interests. That's bad. That's a recipe for disaster,” Glenn concluded. “So take this president out of it. Take the next president… If he decides to write through executive orders and say, ‘I'm not enforcing these tax laws’… Would you be okay with that… It [might go] to my interests, but it goes against our values. That's why it has to stop.”
Front page image courtesy of the AP