Republican Congressman Steve King says the reaction will be “politically nuclear” if President Obama bypasses congress and issues an executive order granting some sort of legal status to illegal immigrants. “First, the president has no constitutional authority to make up laws as he wishes they would be, but he threatens to do so anyway,” King says. “…If the president does this and five to nine or more million people get a ‘you are now legal’ slip from the president of the United States, that throws us into an instantaneous constitutional crisis.”

Congress faces another deadline in September to approve a federal budget or pass a stop-gap measure to avoid a government shutdown. King says those discussions may break down if President Obama uses an executive order on immigration policy. “This would be the most blatantly unconstitutional act by any president of the United States ever if he does what his trial balloons and his own threats have promised to do,” King says. “And so, as the intensity of that gets closer and closer, it’s more and more likely that something like that will happen.”

Reports indicate President Obama is considering executive action that would make more undocumented immigrants eligible for green cards and place more people on the “deferred action” list, so deportation proceedings are delayed. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says it “would be a shame” if Republicans in congress decide to shut down the government over the immigration issue.

(Radio Iowa)