John McCainscreencapLast night President Obama announced what kind of executive action he would take on immigration policy—so-called "deferred action" for parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents as well as deporting only illegal aliens who present "threats to national security, public safety, or border security." Republicans say the president said he wouldn't act alone before reversing course several months ago and finally announcing he would announce what he intended to do after the elections, which went poorly for his party, and former White House spokesperson Jay Carney admitted the president was doing something he previously said was unconstitutional—some constitutional scholars disagree. Some supporters of immigration reform worry unilateral action now makes a permanent legislative solution less likely, as Republicans took control of the whole Congress in the midterms. Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), a longtime supporter of immigration reform, warned about "young punks" saying stupid things that would be taken to represent Republicans as a whole. These aren't your "angry birds." Here are six responses to Obama's decision that stand out as goofy, at best:
1. John Boehner
Speaker John Boehner, who for a while there said he was trying to get a bipartisan immigration reform bill passed in the House before the whole thing collapsed, says Republicans will "rise to this challenge" presented by Obama's immigration actions. "We will not stand idle as the president undermines the rule of law in our country and places lives at risk," Boehner said, talking about the president's decisions to prioritize deportations and defer action against parents of legally residing children and not the illegal war the president has committed U.S. forces to against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The "people's House," as Boehner calls it, hasn't taken any action on this military overreach or any previous one for President Obama. Instead it stood idly by.
Jeff SessionsSenate2. Jeff Sessions
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), no young  punk, nevertheless mouthed off like the way McCain would imagine one to, calling the president's decision "an imperial order to dissolve America's borders" in a column. But the president's action, which effectively caps deportations at 400,000 a year, a number said to be based on budgetary concerns, focuses deportations on security and border threats. For comparison, in 2008, Sessions acknowledged the bank bailout was an "unprecedented governmental intervention in the economy" and voted against it but nevertheless believed it was "well-intentioned." No such slack given here. Even in 2011, when President Obama committed military forces to Libya without any consultation or authorization from Congress Sessions, who opposed the action on the floor, strayed from calling one man's ability to decide to enter his country into a war on his own "imperial."