REPUBLICANS BLAST OBAMA’S IMMIGRATION PLAN

Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner has condemned US President Barack Obama’s use of executive powers to force through immigration reform.
The conservative leader said the action sabotages any chance of enacting cross-party reforms and damages the presidency itself.
Obama’s plan means more than 4m illegal immigrants in the US will be allowed to apply for work permits.
But Boehner said it would encourage more people to arrive unlawfully.
“We have a broken immigration system and the American people expect us to work together to fix it,” Boehner told reporters on Friday, saying Obama had acted unilaterally “like a king or emperor” and not through a democratic process.
“The action by the president yesterday will only encourage more people to come here illegally,” Boehner said. “[It] also punishes those who have obeyed the law and waited their turn.”
The Republican leader said Obama’s actions fail to to take into account the wishes of the American people, adding it is not the first time the US leader has acted without the consent of Congress.
“All year long I have warned the president that by taking unilateral action on matters such as his healthcare law or by threatening action repeatedly on immigration, he was making it impossible to build the trust necessary to work together,” Boehner said.
The same day, House Republicans filed a federal suit over the legality of parts of Obama’s signature healthcare reform law, nicknamed Obamacare, reports the BBC.