Sen. Collins' Statement On President's Address On Immigration
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Susan Collins tonight released this statement following the President's address on immigration.
“There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States – irrefutable evidence that our immigration and border security systems are broken. That is why I supported bipartisan legislation that passed the Senate last year to reform our immigration laws. The President has said previously that the best way to address this problem is legislatively and that he does not have the authority to act unilaterally. His actions are contradicting his previous statements. By acting unilaterally, the President is making it less likely that Congress will act to pass comprehensive reforms. He is undermining the efforts of those of us who favor immigration reform by diverting energy from that goal. I am extremely concerned that President Obama’s excessive use of executive orders to circumvent Congress is undermining our constitutional separation of powers doctrine. His unilateral action on such a significant issue is contrary to how our constitutional system is supposed to work."
“There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States – irrefutable evidence that our immigration and border security systems are broken. That is why I supported bipartisan legislation that passed the Senate last year to reform our immigration laws. The President has said previously that the best way to address this problem is legislatively and that he does not have the authority to act unilaterally. His actions are contradicting his previous statements. By acting unilaterally, the President is making it less likely that Congress will act to pass comprehensive reforms. He is undermining the efforts of those of us who favor immigration reform by diverting energy from that goal. I am extremely concerned that President Obama’s excessive use of executive orders to circumvent Congress is undermining our constitutional separation of powers doctrine. His unilateral action on such a significant issue is contrary to how our constitutional system is supposed to work."
