Congressman Peter Welch (D., Vt.) and MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell were at a loss for words trying to justify the legality of President Obama's impending executive action on immigration reform.
"No one at the White House has been able to give me the legal justification for the following component of the President's plan," O'Donnell said. "What is the legal justification for the President to create a new category of beneficiaries for work documents? How can that be done without legislation?"
Welch claimed that he not only did not know, but it was not his responsibility to know.
"Lawrence, I can't tell you, and I'm not the lawyer who's going to be litigating this case," Welch said. "So the answer to that would be decided by the courts, as you and I know."
O'Donnell reiterated that he has not been able to find "a single Democrat in Washington" who can answer the crucial question.
"I don't mean to badger you about this, but I've been on this for days now," O'Donnell said. "I haven't found a single elected Democrat, not one Democrat in Washington who can answer the question that I just put to you. Have you heard it answered by any Democrats?"
"I haven't. I haven't," Welch conceded.
Although Welch and other Democrats have not been able to justify the legality of granting amnesty to 5 million illegal immigrants, Senate Democrats have nevertheless pushed President Obama to bypass Congress and pass an executive order by himself.