Senate Republicans filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court Monday contesting President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
The lawmakers argued in the legal brief that Obama’s orders mark a "stark contravention to federal law" and asked the high court to review their constitutionality.
Politico reported:
The key point from the nearly four dozen GOP senators who signed the brief is that Obama, through his immigration programs, is essentially making law from the White House, threatening the separation of powers laid out by the Constitution. "There is little doubt that [Obama] adopted the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents ("DAPA") program as part of an explicit effort to circumvent the legislative process," the Republicans’ friend-of-the-court brief, to be released later Monday, says.
Forty-three of the 54 Senate GOP Conference members signed the brief, which was spearheaded by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.).
In 2014, Obama issued an executive order extending legal status under DAPA work permits from two years to three years for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and attended school in the country. The order also established deportation protections for certain undocumented parents of already protected children.
McConnell sent a letter to his GOP colleagues last month encouraging them to contest the president’s actions. He called Obama’s actions a "virtually unprecedented power grab" and a "direct attack on our constitutional order" in the letter, which was obtained by Politico.
Twenty-six states filed the initial lawsuit in a Texas federal court, resulting in an injunction on Obama’s actions. The Supreme Court announced early this year that it would consider a legal challenge to Obama’s executive actions with oral arguments beginning on April 18.