Hensarling Acts to Stop President’s Illegal Power Grab

WASHINGTON—U.S. Congressman Jeb Hensarling (TX-05), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, made the following speech on the floor of the House in support of several amendments to the FY 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (H.R. 240) that would defund President Obama's unconstitutional overreach on immigration:

“Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership on this critical piece of legislation.

“Mr. Chairman, every President in the history of our Republic, from George Washington to Barack Obama, has raised their right hand and said: ‘I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.’

“Clause 4, Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution says the Congress – the Congress – ‘shall have power to establish an uniform rule of naturalization.’ When we as a body read the Constitution on the House floor last week, I had the honor of reading this very section for all to hear.

“Section 3, Article II of the Constitution says the President ‘shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed,' but never in the history of our Republic has a President so blatantly ignored his oath.

“We know our President has a pen; we know he has a phone. We just wonder when will he acquire a copy of the Constitution and read it.

"His executive action on immigration is an unconstitutional power grab. It tramples on the authority that the Constitution gives Congress – the people's elected Representatives – over immigration. It ignores the separation of powers. We cannot let it stand.

“Coequal branches of government, separation of powers, the rule of law – these must be preserved. In this bill, as amended, we do this by exercising the House's constitutional power of the purse. This DHS funding bill, as amended, will achieve this.”

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