Maybe this will inject more solidity into Boehner's spine! (If only the same could be done for McConnell)
WashingtonTimes: A federal judge late Monday halted President Obama’s deportation amnesty, ruling he overstepped his powers in trying to grant legal status and “benefits and privileges” to millions of illegal immigrants, in a stunning decision that chides the president and throws the White House’s plans into disarray just a day before applications were to be accepted.
The White House said it will appeal Judge Andrew S. Hanen’s decision, but it’s unclear whether the case could reach the circuit court in New Orleans or even the Supreme Court before Wednesday, which is when the Homeland Security Department had planned to begin accepting the first applications under the new amnesty.
“The DHS was not given any ‘discretion by law’ to give 4.3 million removable aliens what the DHS itself labels as ‘legal presence,’ ” Judge Hanen wrote in issuing an injunction. “In fact, the law mandates that these illegally-present individuals be removed. The DHS has adopted a new rule that substantially changes both the status and employability of millions. These changes go beyond mere enforcement or even non-enforcement of this nation’s immigration scheme.”
In the immediate sense, the ruling will become a major part of the debate over homeland security funding that has roiled Capitol Hill, with Republicans insisting Mr. Obama’s actions were unconstitutional and should be halted through Congress’s spending power, and Democrats backing their president by filibustering to block funding for the Homeland Security Department altogether.
The ruling doesn’t mean those illegal immigrants are going to be deported immediately — indeed, Judge Hanen said they are likely not to be deported at all under Mr. Obama, who had set “priorities” putting them in little danger of ever being kicked out of the country, even without the formal amnesty.
The judge said Mr. Obama does have the right to set those priorities, but said it is likely a step too far for him to have set up a proactive program to grant them other benefits.
This fight is far from over, but a positive legal step towards the rule of law nonetheless. Now if we can get some legal acknowledgement that enforcement of existing law is an essential part of the solution!
Related link: BREAKING: Federal Judge Halts Obama’s Amnesty for Illegal Aliens
ADDENDUM: Via Levin...
Related link: Cruz: Dems ‘Holding Nat'l Security Hostage to Defend Obama's Illegal Amnesty’On Tuesday's Mark Levin Show: Texas federal judge Andrew Scott Hanen deserves our praise for standing up to President Obama's lawlessness. He figured out Obama's game, to turn things upside down so fast that courts couldn't catch up until it was too late. Hanen, with support from 26 states, stopped Obama's executive amnesty in its tracks. Meanwhile, Congress couldn't shut down the Department of Homeland Security even if they wanted to. Over 80% of DHS employees are considered essential personnel, and would continue to work if a government shutdown were to occur. Despite this, John McCain, Jeff Flake, and the rest of the knee-jerk Republicans will buckle because of a Washington Post editorial. By funding Obama's executive amnesty now, they'd be undermining a Federal court decision.
