WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday that he has urged President Barack Obama not to take any executive action on immigration until December, amid threats from Republicans that such a move could derail funding for the government.
"The president has said he's going to do the executive action -- the question is when he can do it. It's up to him," Reid told reporters on Capitol Hill. "I'd like to get the finances of this country out of the way before he does it."
Reid added that he has expressed his view to Obama, but ultimately "it's up to him."
Obama could take executive action on immigration -- potentially giving deportation relief to millions of undocumented immigrants -- as early as next week, according to reports. Republicans have said it would be a major overreach of his authority, "poisoning the well" for future immigration reform. But they have also indicated it could lead to a government shutdown, should GOP members insist that defunding the new policies be part of the must-pass funding bill.
"If the president illegally tries to grant amnesty to millions of more people, I believe Congress should use every available tool to stop that amnesty and to defend the rule of law," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told The Huffington Post.
Even Republicans who criticized last year's government shutdown agreed. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), both vocal critics of the previous shutdown and co-authors of the Senate immigration bill that passed last year, warned of grave consequences of Obama were to act unilaterally.
"Why not give the new Congress six months to see if we can find a way forward?" Graham told HuffPost. "You've got a bunch of new people coming in who need to be tested about what they believe regarding immigration. Patience is a virtue in life, it's a necessity in a democracy. I just think it's ill-conceived and the public will rebel against it."
Graham added that he had appealed directly to the White House on the matter.
"I said, 'Listen, what's the downside of giving the new Congress a chance? I think most Americans will find this inappropriate and Democrats will pay a price,'" he said. "Most Americans would be for rational comprehensive immigration reform. Very few Americans are for Barack Obama going it alone."
McCain said Obama's decision to take executive action "poisons the well in more ways than one."
"If the president were serious about immigration reform, he'd say, 'It's a new Congress, new members, in both House and Senate, and I'll give them a chance to move forward on immigration reform.' He's not going to do that," McCain said. "So you have to question whether he's really serious about immigration reform or helping with the Hispanic vote in the 2016 election."
McCain also rejected the notion that Congress had forced Obama's hand by failing to act on the issue.
"There may be something happening. You should give it time in order to find that out. What's the difference between three months?" McCain said, adding that he would "absolutely" vote for a continuing resolution that defunds any executive action Obama takes on immigration.
"If he vetoes, he vetoes," McCain said. "I believe in the Constitution. He's the one who's violating the Constitution."
