President Barack Obama overstepped his legal authority in signing an executive order on immigration — but also knew exactly what he was doing, says Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice.
Sekulow, who testified to that before the Judiciary Committee earlier this week, discussed his testimony Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
"I recited the fact that he didn't have the statutory authority. He didn't have the constitutional authority. It violates Supreme Court precedence in separation of powers.
"I'm someone that's in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, but the president doesn't get to do this on his own.
"The real tragedy in all of this, besides the fact that the president has overreached his constitutional authority yet again, but the real tragedy in this is that it doesn't move the immigration issue anywhere."
Obama's executive order, made without the approval of Congress, is expected to clear the way for amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.
"The president knew he didn't have the authority, he said he couldn't change the law and then he went and tried to. The president knew exactly what he's doing here," Sekulow said.
Sekulow — author of
"Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can't Ignore," written with Jordan Sekulow, Robert Ash and David French and published by Howard Books — called Obama's action an overreach "dramatic in scope."
"The president acknowledges first, 22 times, he does not have the authority to change the law and then he has a change of heart and changes the law which he has no authority to do,' Sekulow said.
"The problem is even if you thought the president's policy was the right policy, the problem is presidents don't get to do this. That's the job of the legislative branch of government. That is what's set forth in the United States Constitution."
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