Sen. Joe Manchin predicted Republicans would neither shut down the government nor pass new legislation to counter President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration.
"I don't think they're going to shut down the government. And, I don't really think they're going to pass a bill now, either. I think basically what we have is what we have," the West Virginia Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday.
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Though Manchin said Obama's executive order "mirrored the bill that we passed in the Senate," he suggested the president should have told Congress he had an order that would "go into effect April 1, 2015," thereby giving "everybody a chance to look at it."
"Basically, I think that it would have been better for the president, after the resounding defeat that we were handed by the voters, to say, 'Listen, come back in. You got until March or April, 190 days, 120 days,'" he said.
As it was, Manchin said he understood the "ire" among lawmakers, since they "didn't get a chance to see the order until the night that he announced it." Manchin said his constituents felt the president "overstepped his boundaries," but stressed problems with immigration had to be addressed.
"The bottom line is, we've got to fix immigration. You've got to secure the borders. We know that," he said.
Manchin said Obama should wait and let the lame duck Congress or the new session beginning in January act on immigration, but then move if lawmakers don't.
"If they don't have any intentions of doing anything, he has his order. It was well posted. And, go on with it," he said.
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