Allen West: "The resurrection of an imperial presidency"

The GOP is somewhat less-than-pleased with President Obama’s Friday announcement that he plans to take the United States’ deportation policy into his own hands and issue young illegal immigrants work permits allowing them to stay in the country legally, and several Congresspeople had some fightin’ words for the president on the House floor on Monday afternoon.

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Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) quoted the president from a year ago, when he said the administration can’t ignore laws on the books — advice that Poe said Obama ignored last week. …

“He doesn’t like the constitutional process for lawmaking because it just gets in his way, so he acts like an emperor instead of a president,” Poe added. “It’s time for the former constitutional professor to read the Constitution.”

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said he is “deeply alarmed that America’s president so blatantly undermines the rule of law.”

“In America, we elect presidents, not caesars,” Brooks said. “The only way to change America’s immigration law is as our Constitution demands, through Congress not by imperial decree.”

Ouch — tell us how you really feel! But when it comes to calling people out for wildly presumptuous oversteps of authority and political pandering, there are few who do it better than Rep. Allen West (R-Florida). He pretty much sums it up:

“What country did we wake up in on Friday?,” West asked. “It just causes people to ask, where are we? You know, the last time we had this was with King George III, and we didn’t like it too much. And I think that you’re seeing the resurrection of an imperial presidency, and the arrogance thereof. To think that you can come out and basically tell the American people that this is what we’re going to do … and don’t question me.” …

“America is not about ruling by verbal edict or just whims; the president has been elected to enforce the laws of this country. And he doesn’t get to pick which laws he likes or dislikes. And I find it very perplexing and ironic that when he had control of the House and Senate, this did not seem like a very important issue.”

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