Thune: ‘Very Difficult’ Constitutionally for POTUS to Address Birthright Citizenship via Executive Order

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” Senate GOP Conference Chair John Thune (R-SD) argued it will be “very difficult, from a constitutional perspective,” for the president to address birthright citizenship through an executive order, and “we need to have that discussion in Congress.”

Thune said House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) statement “probably gets it about right. I think it’s going to be very difficult, from a constitutional perspective, for the president to attempt, through executive order, to address this issue. There have been bills introduced in the past that have attempted to prospectively deal with this, and I think that’s what Lindsey Graham is talking about. That may be a more appropriate way to do this. But I just think that the executive order path is something that conservatives basically attacked Democrats for doing and President Obama for doing when it came to the issue of immigration. And I think we need to have that discussion in Congress.”

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