Lee: ‘Obstructionist’ Dems Shutting Down DHS and Making Congress ‘Inept’

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) argued that “obstructionist” Senate Democrats were voting to shut down the Department of Homeland Security and make Congress “inept” via the president’s executive action on immigration on Thursday’s “Mark Levin Show.”

“Republicans in Congress, to their credit, have said ‘OK, look here’s what’s going to happen. If the president wants to do this, fine, but we’re not going to facilitate it’…the Democrats won’t even let us debate that bill. They’re not willing to even take it up. They’re not even willing to subject it to an amendment process where they could change it into something that they want, they’re obstructing, they’re being purely obstructionist because they’re trying to protect the president in his unconstitutional action” he stated. And “they [Senate Democrats] are yet again saying ‘I’m willing to back the president of my party, just because he’s the president of my party, even when he betrays his oath to the Constitution, and in the process, I’m going to betray mine.  That is wrong.  They’re subjecting our country to harm as a result, and they’re willing even to try to shut down the Department of Homeland Security simply so they can protect the president in his lawless, unconstitutional action. That is wrong.”

Lee later added that Democrats were “willing to shut down the Department of Homeland Security” in order to protect the president’s executive action.  He further declared that president is “asking all these Democrats in the Senate, all 46 of them, to join him in his plan to subvert the Constitution…they reject the notion that it is the prerogative of the legislative branch to make the law, and if we allow the president to do this, and we continue to fund him in this, set aside for a minute whether you’re Republican or Democrat, set aside for a minute whether you’re pro-amnesty or against amnesty as a matter of policy. Just from an institutional standpoint, when you at Congress as an institution, we as a Congress will become inept if this becomes the new norm.”

He also argued that the Democrat’s filibusters were different than past GOP filibusters because “we did this [filibuster] as Republicans when Harry Reid refused to allow us to have an amendment process, but with the new Republican majority, we allow amendments. We’ve already cast more amendments on bills in the last few weeks than we did in the entire last two years of Congress.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett