Attorney General Eric Holder believes President Barack Obama has shown restraint in his use of executive actions.
In an interview with Time, Holder, who previously could not explain whether the Constitution enabled some of Obama’s bolder executive actions, claimed Obama has “appropriately used executive authority as other presidents have.”
“He’s used executive action around 180 times, something like that. I was looking the other day just at a list of presidents, and Teddy Roosevelt issued about 1,000 executive orders,” he said. “So in terms of magnitude this president has not used this authority nearly as much as his critics would say.”
He said Obama has asked him and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to “look into a wide range of things” before noting that “we are more broadly looking at the whole immigration portfolio.”
The magnitude of Obama’s actions – like granting amnesty to illegal immigrant DREAMers, changing his own Obamacare law multiple times to give exceptions and amend the employer mandate provision, and changing the Welfare Reform Act – have arguably been far greater than those of his predecessors, and reports have indicated that Obama is just getting started. Obama is reportedly set on granting work permits and temporary amnesty – in contravention of federal law – to millions more illegal immigrant adults when Congress goes on recess.
Many legal scholars believe Obama’s executive actions have been unprecedented. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has sued him for his Obamacare overreach. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin declared on Breitbart.com that Obama should be impeached for his lawlessness on illegal immigration, which was the tipping point for her and many working Americans of all backgrounds.