Gutierrez: Exec Orders ‘What Presidents Are Able To Do’ When Congress Won’t Act, ‘Protecting’ Illegals Will Be ‘Critical’ In 2016

Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) argued executive orders are “what presidents are able to do, especially when the Congress of the United States refuses to act” and that protecting the people shielded under President Obama’s executive order on immigration will be a “critical” issue in the 2016 election on Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Wolf.”

Gutierrez began by saying, “It’s a great day in America, a great day to be an American. I’m proud of the fact that the Supreme Court has taken on the case. And I’m very joyful today. 4 million people, the Supreme Court can give them a way to register with the government. That is, with their own money, take a — go into a serious background check, check out their fingerprints, pay for it themselves, register with the government, get a work permit. I am very optimistic that what the president has done is lawful, constitutional, and it follows many many precedents that other presidents and chief executives of the United States have already taken.”

He further justified the executive order by citing Harry S. Truman’s integration of the military and the Emancipation Proclamation, and adding, “it’s what presidents are able to do, especially when the Congress of the United States refuses to act.”

Gutierrez concluded, “next November, what’s going — when people walk into the ballot box, one of the critical issues that they’re going to have on their mind, as they vote for the next president of the united states is, who’s going to be protect those 4 million people, and who’s not. I think a lot of people in America want a sensible, just, immigration system, Wolf, that’s going to protect those moms and dads, and let them raise their American citizen children.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett