A Republican-controlled Senate and House can prevent President Barack Obama from using an executive order to legalize millions of illegal immigrants, says Sen. Jeff Sessions, a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship.
"It's really easy, we do it all the time. We simply put language in a bill that says the executive branch can't spend any money on this or that project," Sessions, an Alabama Republican, said Monday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
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"We do it in the Defense department, we barred spending on closing Guantanamo, that's why they've never been able to close Guantanamo.
"Yes, the House has already passed this language. [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid refuses to even bring it up and let it be voted on in the Senate, but if we get the majority, we are bringing it up. We'll also be able to be successful and people who block it are going to be held to account."
And Sessions believes Republicans have a very good chance of regaining control of the Senate in the midterm elections on Tuesday.
"It's a very real possibility. We're going to have a lot of close races, but they seem to be moving in the right direction," Sessions said.
"A lot of the experts are saying there's over a 50 percent chance that the Republicans can pick up six seats, which is a lot."
Sessions said an executive order on immigration would increase by millions of people the nation's workforce pool — and further hurt the opportunities of American citizens to get jobs.
"We have the lowest percentage of people in America today who have been working in 40 years. This is a stunning statistic. Almost every person who's gotten a job in the last 10 years is going to an illegal immigrant," he said.
Sessions said he disagrees with Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's suggestion that President Barack Obama's deep unpopularity in the South is partly tied to race.
"That's absolutely not so in my opinion. The real problem is that the South and all the other conservative, traditional areas of the country and they see correctly in my opinion that President Obama is not just a normal Democratic liberal but a man of the real hard left," he said.
"He does not reflect their views and that's the problem. He's pushing an agenda that people all over the country do not believe in really, and the chickens are finally coming home to roost.
"People are fully understanding the enormity of his attempt to move the country in a direction that is not good."
Sessions also said he disagreed with Sen. Rand Paul's assessment of the GOP brand — that it "sucks" — but believes the party can do better.
"I don't think that's the way to say it but we need to do a better job of talking to average, middle class Americans and explaining why our policies will work for them and we need to consider some of the things they're asking us to do," he said.
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