Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions says that even though the House has approved the "clean" Department of Homeland Security spending bill, it doesn't mean that it's time for Republicans to "move on" from the fight against President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration.
"Republicans will have to come to realize that it falls on their shoulders to give voice to the just demands of the American people for a lawful system of immigration that serves their interests, defends their jobs, protects their security,"
the Alabama Republican said in a statement Tuesday, as the House was getting ready to vote on the "clean" DHS funding bill, which does not restrict Obama's executive orders.
The House passed the "clean" DHS funding bill Tuesday 257-167. It is now headed to Obama's desk for his signature.
Several Republican senators, including John McCain, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham and Mark Kirk, said recently that its time to move away the fight over immigration actions in Congress in favor of other issues and other means.
A Texas federal judge has ruled that Obama's executive actions on immigration are in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. While the matter is now heading to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Senate Republicans are confident that the appellate court will uphold the ruling by the federal court.
"Why don’t we just look at the court decision in Texas, declare victory and move on?" Flake said.
Sessions says that he disagrees with that sentiment, saying that it undermines the authority of Congress and that it should not merely leave the matter to the judicial branch.
"Nor can we allow the president to dismantle the constitutional powers of Congress, ceding our status as a coequal branch, on the hope the judiciary intervenes to restore some fraction of that lost authority," Sessions explained.
"When it comes to defending our sovereignty, there is no 'moving on,'" he said.
"Now is not the time for recrimination; now is the time for renewed determination. What motivates and excites a small group of open-borders billionaires has no connection to the hearts and lives of the working people of this country," Sessions contends. "They have been silenced for too long.
"Those who think this fight is over could not be more mistaken; it is only beginning," he added. "When the power of the American people is finally leveraged, people will be astonished by the results."
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