releases: https://web.archive.org/web/20141207033455/http://brooks.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=1254
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://web.archive.org/web/20141207033455/http://brooks.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=1254 | Brooks: Courts Should Determine if Obama Right When He Denied Authority to Grant Executive Amnesty, Stating: "That's Not How Our Constitution is Written" | 2014-11-18 | 2014 | 2014-11 | Republican | House | AL | Mo Brooks | B001274 | web.archive.org | legacy | Washington, D.C. – The media reports President Obama has plans to make "changes to the immigration enforcement system" that "could offer legal documents to as many as five million immigrants in the country illegally." In 2011, when open borders and amnesty groups pressed President Obama to grant executive amnesty, President Obama replied, "Believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting, ... not just on immigration reform, but that’s not how — that’s not how our system works. That’s not how our democracy functions. That’s not how our Constitution is written." Again, in September 2011, President Obama stated that he lacked authority to unilaterally grant executive amnesty, "This notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true. ... We are doing everything we can administratively. But the fact of the matter is, there are laws on the books that I have to enforce." In response to President Obama’s promised executive amnesty, Monday night Congressman Brooks introduced House Resolution 757 to authorize the House of Representatives to seek a declaratory judgment action in federal court to determine whether President Obama’s amnesty executive order violates the Constitution and federal immigration law duties, and, if so, to obtain injunctive relief and a writ of mandamus to compel President Obama and the Executive Branch to obey immigration laws as passed by Congress, signed into law by presidents, and interpreted by federal judges. Congressman Brooks said, "As his own words reflect, President Obama knows he lacks legal authority to grant executive amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Yet, in response to special interest group pressures, President Obama says he will grant executive amnesty anyway. President Obama should be held to his own words and bound by the United States Constitution. Thankfully, our system of government grants courts the authority to resolve legal disputes. The federal courts are best suited to determine if Obama is exceeding his authority, and, if so, how to reverse it. Under America’s Constitution, we elect presidents, not dictators or tyrants. Under our system of government, legal disputes of this nature are for the courts to decide. My resolution empowers the U.S. House of Representatives to do that." Brooks continued, "Seeking judicial guidance is not partisan. It is not Republican nor Democrat. There is a bigger issue at stake. Can future Congresses, regardless of party, force a president, regardless of party, to adhere to his Constitutional duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed?’ Can future Congresses force future presidents to obey federal law? The overarching issue in this litigation is the delicate balance of power that our nation’s founders embodied in our Constitution. Embodied in that overarching issue is one question: Is America based on tyranny or democracy?" Brooks concluded, "I appreciate the support of my fellow Members of Congress in holding this Administration accountable. Although filed just last night, H.Res. 757 has already been cosponsored by Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-05), Congressman John Culberson (TX-07), Congressman Steve King (IA-04), Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-04), Congressman Paul Gosar (AZ-04), Congressman Michele Bachmann (MN-06), Congressman Steve Stockman (TX-36), and Congressman Lee Terry (NE-02)." In another attempt to block executive amnesty, last week Brooks joined more than 60 House Republicans last week in sending a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, requesting they use FY 2015 appropriations legislation to preemptively bar fundsfrom being used to illegally grant amnesty and work permits to illegal aliens via executive orders. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |