Sen. Jeff Sessions says he's clueless as to why House Speaker John Boehner isn't fighting tooth and nail President Barack Obama's executive action that will grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants in the United States.
"I just don't know what justifies the speaker's thinking," Sessions, an Alabama Republican, said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
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"I just believe that the American people do not want this to happen, that Congress will fund the government of the United States."
On Thursday, Boehner brushed aside the objections of GOP conservatives and vowed to push forward with a spending bill that avoids a government shutdown but keeps some budget "leverage" over Obama's immigration order.
Boehner said he expects the bill, which fully funds all government agencies except the Department of Homeland Security through September, to pass next week. Homeland Security would only get short term funding, giving next year's GOP-led Congress' leverage to hinder the Obama's plan.
"We think this is the most practical way to fight the president's action. And we listened to our members," Boehner said. "And, frankly, we listened to some members who were frankly griping the most. This was their idea on how to proceed."
But Sessions — a ranking member of Senate Budget Committee and member of Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship — isn't convinced.
"[Obama has] requested this money to process these unlawful entrants into America, Congress opposes it, it's unlawful for him to do so without laws being passed, and we shouldn't fund it because it's wrong and because it's unconstitutional," he said.
Sessions added that lawmakers have just discovered a building in Crystal City, across the Potomac River from Washington, to be used as part of the president's plans to get jobs for the flux of newly legalized immigrants.
"They now have applications out for 1,000 employees, [a] $100 million facility that Congress has never authorized, never funded, and shouldn't fund," he said.
"The money is being reallocated within the department and Congress has the absolute power to say, no, we want to use this money for lawful activities, not unlawful.
"You cannot spend it on creating a building and 1,000 new workers to do your amnesty [bidding]. We should do that, in my view."
But Sessions said the GOP-controlled Senate is ready to fight come next month.
"We'll have a much better chance of moving legislation in the Senate, but … we do need a clear plan and a commitment to reverse this order. A majority of the American people clearly support that," he said.
"We should not give up and should keep fighting … It's a unilateral dismantlement of immigration law."
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