House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) kicked off Tuesday’s hearing on President Obama’s “executive overreach on immigration” by comparing Obama to England’s King James II. But amnesty activists quickly disrupted the hearing with shouts, chants and signs.
After playing a video of the numerous times Obama had stated he did not have the authority to unilaterally change the laws himself, Goodlatte noted that Obama last week said, “I just took an action to change the law.”
“As the Washington Post’s own ‘Fact Checker’ concluded ‘[a]pparently he’s changed his mind.’ And, I should add, a jeweled crown worthy of King James II of England, who precipitated the Glorious Revolition by dispensing with the laws passed by Parliament,” the Virginia lawmaker said.
“The Constitution is clear: it is Congress’ duty to write our nation’s laws and, once they are enacted, it is the President’s responsibility to enforce them,” he added.
According to Goodlatte, the Obama administration is mistaken when it believes it has precedent to take such actions. Instead, it’s moving quickly toward a “constitutional crisis.”
“No president has so abused and misused the power of prosecutorial discretion as has President Obama,” he explained.
“President Obama has entered the realm of rewriting the laws when he can’t convince Congress to change them to match his personal tastes,” Goodlatte added, going on to argue that Obama is creating a “toxic” relationship with Congress and that his actions “have further set back congressional efforts to enact legislation to reform our broken immigration system.”
At the conclusion of Goodlatte’s opening statement several amnesty protesters interrupted the proceedings, yelling in broken English against deportations.
When they were escorted out into the hall they were greeted by cheers and chants of “Si se Puede.”
Following the opening statement of ranking member John Conyers (D-MI), who defended Obama’s actions, another group of disruptive audience members stood up and shouted holding signs reading: “GOP What’s Your Immigration Solution.”
They were quickly moved out of the hearing room, where again shouts of “Si se Puede” echoed through the hallways and could be heard within the hearing room. Perhaps anticipating such an outbreak, Goodlatte had started his opening remarks by warning against inappropriate conduct and breaches of order.
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