Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society

Obama: “I Just Took An Action To Change The Law” On Immigration

Screen Shot 2014-11-26 at 9.27.01 AMThere was an unscripted moment for President Barack Obama yesterday that might make Justice Department lawyers defending the recent unilateral changes to immigration laws a bit uneasy. The President was faced with an understandably annoying problem of hecklers who interrupted his speech demanding an end to deportations of anyone. The President responded with a clearly justified admonishment that they should let him speak, but he added in obvious frustration “What you’re not paying attention to is the fact that I just took an action to change the law.” That is what the Administration lawyers have striven to deny. They are insisting that this was not a change in law (which is a legislative act) but the exercise of discretion allowed under the law.


I have to say that I have always admired how the President handled such hecklers. He stay calm and respectful despite dealing with some pretty rude characters in the past.

President Obama admonished the protesters initially by saying “Don’t just start yelling, young ladies . . . I let you holler . . . You’ve got to listen to me too.” He then said “What you’re not paying attention to is the fact that I just took an action to change the law.”

His other statement was more in line with the legal position of the Administration: “Although I disagree with some of your characterizations, it does not make much sense to yell at me right now, when we are making changes.”

Here is the encounter:

The statement comes after another statement earlier where the President seemed to draw an uncertain line over when he is entitled to act unilaterally and when he is not. The statement came in an excellent interview by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos where President Obama made some strong points. However, Stephanopoulos asked Obama: “How do you respond to the argument, a future president comes in, wants lower taxes. Doesn’t happen. Congress won’t do it — he says I’m not going to prosecute those who don’t pay capital gains tax.” When the President did not address that question, Stephanopoulos pressed again “So you don’t think it’d be legitimate for a future president to make that argument?” The President responded “With respect to taxes? Absolutely not.” Despite the President’s skills in argument, the separation-of-powers question is how that line is drawn from taxes to health care to online gambling to immigration etc.

232 thoughts on “Obama: “I Just Took An Action To Change The Law” On Immigration”

  1. Inga:

    Here is what I said on May 2nd in the Sterling post:

    “When a young family member was terminally ill, she had a feeding tube. And yet the bureaucrat in Medicaid would only approve the pill form of one of her medications. We explained ad nauseam that, per her doctor, a dissolved pill would clog her feeding tube and require surgery, but to no avail. We all hated that there was this layer between her physician and her.”

    I have never said my sister died. You seem to imply I’m not telling the truth. You do not seem to believe me, which is strange. Do you require some sort of proof?

    If you must know, it was my husband’s niece. She was family. I flew up and helped take care of her for a few weeks, and she stayed with us for a week later.

    I NEVER said you should be allowed to work with a disability. WHY would I ever do that? I don’t know much about you. I already stated above that the MLK comment had nothing at all to do with you, was in an entirely different part of the country. I have no idea how you were injured or if you’re even still on disability. You’re remarked about your back pain, but I assumed you were working now.

    I was talking about people gaming the system and draining money away. Medicare is running out of money by around 2030, according to its own trustees. This is about Medicare and people defrauding the government. This is not about you.

    OK, now it’s about you. But my original comment was not.

  2. Squeeky: “which were against the wishes of the Congress sitting at that time???” This matters in a Constitutional sense, why?

  3. Inga – Now who can forget the lawsuits (aka: hissyfits) resulting ftom THOSE Imperial, power grabbing, Constitution perverting actions?

  4. Zedalis,I hope in my massive strength as a disabled nurse, I didn’t hurt ya too much. 😉

  5. @Zedalis

    Well, could you please just do the Short List of Republican Presidents making Immigration related Executive Orders, which were against the wishes of the Congress sitting at that time??? You know, the ones where the Republican Presidents could not get an agreement with either the Senate or the House of Representatives? Because that should be pretty easy!

    Thanks!

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

  6. Well, okay Inga, twist my arm (sorry for the length):

    Pres. Dwight Eisenhower:
    1956
    By executive order, circumvented immigration quotas to allow 900 orphans to join their adoptive families in the U.S.
    1956-1958
    By executive order, allowed 31,000 Hungarian anti-Soviet insurgents to emigrate.
    1959-72
    By executive order, allowed 600,000 Cubans fleeing Castro to emigrate. [PDF]

    Pres. Gerald Ford:
    1975
    By executive order, allowed 360,000 refugees, mostly from from Vietnam, to emigrate.
    1976
    By executive order, allowed 14,000 Lebanese nationals to emigrate.

    Pres. Ronald Reagan:
    1981
    By executive order, allowed 7,000 Polish anti-Communists to emigrate.
    1982
    Allowed 15,000-plus Ethiopians to emigrate.
    1987
    By executive order, rescinded deportation of 200,000 Nicaraguans.
    1987
    By executive order, deferred deportation of undocumented children of 100,000 families. [JSTOR]

    George H.W. Bush:
    1989
    By executive order, deferred deportations of Chinese students.
    1989
    By executive order, reversed visa denials of 7,000 Soviets, Indochinese.
    1990
    By executive order, deferred deporations of previously amnestied citizens’ 1.5 million spouses and children.
    1991
    By executive order, deferred deportation of 2,000 Gulf War evacuees.
    1992
    By executive order, deferred deportations of 190,000 El Salvadorans.

    George W. Bush:
    2002
    By executive order, expedited naturalization for green-card holders who joined military.
    2005
    By executive order, deferred deportation of students affected by Hurricane Katrina.
    2006
    By executive order, enabled 1,500 Cuban physicians to seek asylum at US embassies.
    2007
    By executive order, deferred deportation of 3,600 Liberians.

    1. zedalis – at no point am I seeing 5 million economic refugees allowed to stay in the country by Republican EO. I do not approve of EO as you know, but even if I approved of them they would not probably total 5 million.

  8. Squeeky Fromm >> “(third-person singular simple present poopoos, present participle poopooing, simple past and past participle poopooed)”

    I was fairly innattentive as a young student so this reads to me like dyslexia must feel.

  10. DBQ – Please do not make me post the lenghty list of Republican Presidents making Immigration related Executive Orders, but do look for it only if you are old fashioned and appreciate the word “precedented”

  11. on 1, November 26, 2014 at 5:39 pmKaren S
    Nick:

    True. Disability fraud is rampant. Those bad apples steal from those who truly deserve it, like Lee.

    I recall when the MLK Hospital in CA was having trouble, there was this epidemic of nurses falling out of chairs. The most dangerous object in the entire hospital was a chair. Nurses would fall out of it and go on disability for months. It takes money from those who really deserve it. My sister-in-law’s body has taken a beating from years of nursing. I’m pretty sure she would work with a severed limb.

    The public is happy to support those who really need disability. It’s the fraud that’s the problem.
    “**************************************

    Karen if you are attempting to say I would be allowed to work in my profession with my disabilities you are being silly. You have to be physically fit to safely lift, bend, twist and care for patients. Your sister would not be cleared in her employment physical to work with patients if she had one arm. If yo think o nurses are honestl disabled you are wrong. I am 62 years old and my condition is degenerative, so DO NOT make assumptions unless you want to be compared to Spinelli.

  13. Meeeeeeanwhile…..back to the topic.

    Now that Obama has admitted in public that he “changed the law”, something that he had previously stated he could not do and which is an unconstitutional move on his part, can we expect this disclosure to be a part of the upcoming lawsuits against the amnesty move that Obama just made?

    The entire issue of executive orders is that they should not make new law nor do they alter existing laws. It is a fine line sometimes. Other times, as it appears to be now, it is one that is completely ignored.

  14. Those are very funny photos, particulary the ambulance one. I was never a big NY team fan but got to a lot of Mets games with a friend who was a rabid fan. Have seen games all over the country but seeing baseball in NY was a real treat.

  15. I believe you first stated in that huge HOBBY LOBBY thread or one of the Hobby Lobby threads, I’m looking for it, but I’m also baking at the same time for tomorrow, so I’m not going to waste too much time now.

  17. Inga:

    Please copy and paste or link to my comments where I said it was my sister.

    I am curious if I’ve made a typo or if you are not remembering correctly.

    Please provide a link.

  18. @Zedalis

    Just FWIW, poo-pooed is a real word!

    Verb

    poopoo (third-person singular simple present poopoos, present participle poopooing, simple past and past participle poopooed)

    1. (transitive) To mildly deprecate or dismiss something as unimportant.

    She poopooed the idea.

    2. (intransitive, informal) To defecate

    http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/poopoo

    A poetess has to know stuff like this.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

  19. Squeeky, that just shows that he does not have any regard for even his own words. I just do not get it how people can still support him after all these years to assess him.

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