Claim: President Barack Obama "said over 20 times he did not have the legal authority" to act as he did on immigration.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Economic policy of the Barack Obama administration
text: November 2013, Ju Hong, a 24-year-old South Korean immigrant without legal documentation, shouted at Obama to use his executive power to stop deportation of illegal immigrants. Obama said "If, in fact, I could solve all these problems without passing laws in Congress, then I would do so." "But we're also a nation of laws, that's part of our tradition," he continued. "And so the easy way out is to try to yell and pretend like I can do something by violating our laws. And what I'm proposing is the harder path, which is to use our democratic processes to achieve

title: Heckler
text: after President Obama stated that his health care plan would not subsidize coverage for illegal immigrants during a speech he was making to a joint session of Congress. Wilson later apologized for his outburst. On 25 November 2013, Ju Hong, a 24-year-old South Korean immigrant without legal documentation, shouted at Obama to use his executive power to stop deportation of illegal immigrants. Obama said "If, in fact, I could solve all these problems without passing laws in Congress, then I would do so." "But we're also a nation of laws, that's part of our tradition," he continued. "And so the

title: Ken Paxton
text: New York Times", Obama's executive actions "would protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation and allow them to work indefinitely in the country legally." Paxton argued that the president should not be allowed to "unilaterally rewrite congressional laws and circumvent the people's representatives." The Supreme Court heard the case, "United States v. Texas", and issued a split 4-4 ruling in the case in June 2016. Because of the split ruling, a 2015 lower-court ruling invalidating Obama's plan was left in place. In July 2017, Paxton led a group of Republican Attorneys General and Idaho Governor Butch Otter in threatening the

title: ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014
text: changes and delays he'd made with regards to the ACA, his past decisions not to deport children of illegal immigrants, his uneven enforcement of marijuana laws, and his treatment of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which Republicans often claimed he had refused to enforce. Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said that "throughout the Obama presidency we have seen a pattern: President Obama circumvents Congress when he doesn't get his way." Majority Leader Eric Cantor said that "the president's dangerous search for expanded powers appears to be endless." ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014 The ENFORCE

title: Presidency of Barack Obama
text: executive actions. In the 2010 lame-duck session, Obama supported passage of the DREAM Act, which passed the House but failed to overcome a Senate filibuster in a 55-41 vote in favor of the bill. In 2013, the Senate passed an immigration bill with a path to citizenship, but the House did not vote on the bill. In 2012, Obama implemented the DACA policy, which protected roughly 700,000 illegal immigrants from deportation; the policy applies only to those who were brought to the United States before their 16th birthday. In 2014, Obama announced a new executive order that would have protected

title: Economic policy of the Barack Obama administration
text: said that he "will not support any bill that does not provide [an] earned path to citizenship for the undocumented population." Obama has said that he does not believe that the 12 million illegal immigrants should be deported. He said "It's not going to happen. We're not going to go round them up ... We should give them a pathway to citizenship." In September 2006, Obama voted for the Secure Fence Act, authorizing the construction of of fencing along the United States–Mexico border. Obama has supported granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. In June 2007, Obama voted against declaring English

title: Immigration reform in the United States
text: and new procedures for "high-skilled immigrants". These other "parts of the president's plan" could provide "protection from deportation" for roughly "an additional one million people". President Obama's actions were clearly presented as a response to Congress having been unable in recent years to agree on a general legislative overhaul of U.S. immigration policy. Obama indicated: [By] acting where Congress has failed ... [I hope] to work with both parties to pass a more permanent legislative solution. And the day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary. On December 16, 2014, Arthur J.

title: Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013
text: Representatives has not acted on this Senate bill. A statement of principles on immigration, released by Congressional Republicans on January 30, 2014, stated that “we will not go to a conference with the Senate’s immigration bill” and that “border security and interior enforcement must come first.” In the absence of a “comprehensive fix” from Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama announced on November 20, 2014 executive actions to “make our immigration system more fair and more just.” These actions included a long-contemplated program of "deferred action" which would allow an estimated 45% of unauthorized immigrants to legally stay and work in

title: United States v. Texas
text: as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress.” Over the next eight months the Obama Administration went through sixty iterations of different possible executive actions. Finally, on November 20, 2014, President Obama delivered a primetime televised address to the nation announcing DAPA. The Office of Legal Counsel advised that the program was constitutional, finding it was similar to President George H. W. Bush’s 1990 "Family Fairness" program. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson then released two memorandums directing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make aliens without criminal histories the lowest priority for removal,

title: Barack Obama speech to joint session of Congress, September 2009
text: Because that is who we are. That is our calling. That is our character. During the speech, the president discussed the health coverage of illegal immigrants, saying: "There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." At this point, South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson yelled "You lie!", briefly interrupting the speech. Wilson later issued a statement apologizing for his outburst. On September 15, the House approved a "resolution of disapproval" (a reprimand as opposed to formal censure)

title: Deferred Action for Parents of Americans
text: 30, Speaker John Boehner announced that he would not bring the bill to a vote. That same day, President Obama delivered remarks in the White House Rose Garden promising to “fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress.” Over the next eight months the Obama Administration went through sixty iterations of different possible executive actions. Finally, on November 20, 2014, President Obama delivered a primetime televised address to the nation announcing DAPA. The Office of Legal Counsel advised that the program was constitutional, finding it was similar to President George H. W. Bush’s

title: Illegal immigration to the United States
text: Americans may favor one immigration policy over another, perceptions of government and officials' ability to implement these policies is consistently negative. In November 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a set of executive actions which could extend at least temporary legal status to nearly half of the illegal immigrants in the United States. The Republican majority in the new Congress as 2015 is challenging these actions. Although some Republican senators did vote for the reform bill of 2013 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, Obama's executive steps are not in accord with the overall stated policy

title: Immigration reform in the United States
text: Schwab, a United States federal judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, ruled that President Obama's executive action on immigration was unconstitutional in a case involving a Honduran man facing criminal charges for returning to the United States after being deported. As the "New York Times" put it, this finding "had no immediate effect". On December 4, 2014, a more direct challenge was, however, filed in federal court by the attorney general of Texas, on behalf of 17 states. By January 26, 2015, the number of states participating in the lawsuit had grown to

title: Jeh Johnson
text: by the Department over limiting travel visas to the United States, which Secretary Johnson contended would have been a mistake given the leadership position of the U.S. and likelihood of influencing other countries to take the same action. After the House of Representatives failed to act on S. 744, Secretary Johnson and President Obama issued ten new executive actions on November 20, 2014 to address the 11 million undocumented individuals in the United States. These actions included, among others, a new Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Strategy, a revision of removal priorities to focus on criminals and national security threats,

title: Wesley Duncan
text: in office as First Assistant Attorney General, the office announced it would challenge President Barack Obama's order to shield millions from deportation and allow them to apply for work permits. Republican Governor Brian Sandoval said that he did not think he could legally override the challenge, to which he did not consent, he planned to talk with the Attorney General about it. In Duncan’s second year as First Assistant Attorney General, the office led a lawsuit in U.S. District Court suing the U.S. Department of Labor Tuesday over a new rule that would have made about 4 million higher-earning workers

title: Arizona SB 1070
text: trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe." Obama did later note that the HB 2162 modification had stipulated that the law not be applied in a discriminatory fashion, but the president said there was still the possibility of suspected illegal immigrants "being harassed and arrested". He repeatedly called for federal immigration reform legislation to forestall such actions among the states and as the only long-term solution to the problem of illegal immigration. Governor Brewer and President Obama met at the White House in early June 2010 to discuss immigration and border security issues

title: Immigration reform in the United States
text: trial. Judge Jerry Edwin Smith, joined by Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod agreed with the district court that Texas has standing because of the cost of issuing drivers licenses to aliens, and that President Obama's order violated the rulemaking requirement of the Administrative Procedure Act. The majority made a new finding that the Immigration and Nationality Act "flatly does not permit" deferred action. Judge Carolyn Dineen King dissented, arguing that prosecutorial discretion makes the case non-justiciable, and that there had been "no justification" for the circuit court's delay in ruling. On 20 November 2015, the United States Department of Justice appealed

title: United States House of Representatives v. Azar
text: as ignoring a law passed by Congress, Boehner called on the President to act on his own (despite inaction by Congress) to deal with the 2014 American immigration crisis. Obama responded to the plan to authorize a lawsuit against him, "Everyone sees this as a political stunt, but it’s worse than that because every vote they’re taking ... means a vote they’re not taking to help people." Some prominent conservatives have ridiculed the lawsuit as being wasteful "political theater" and a "foolish move", while others criticized it for not going far enough, preferring to press for impeachment. Prior to the

title: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
text: into effect while the case, "Texas v. United States", proceeded. After progressing through the court system, an equally divided (4–4) Supreme Court left the injunction in place, without setting any precedent. Republican Party leaders denounced the DACA program as an abuse of executive power. Nearly all Republicans in the House of Representatives (along with three Democrats) voted 224–201 to defund DACA in June 2013. Lead author of the amendment Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) stated, "The point here is ... the President does not have the authority to waive immigration law, nor does he have the authority to create it out

title: Trail of Dreams 2010
text: coming to visit me and are self admitted illegal aliens". The meeting was peaceful and no legal action was taken against the undocumented students. On Monday, June 28, 2010 the only documented immigrant, Juan Rodriguez, was granted a meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss immigration reform. Rodriguez joined a group of immigrant reform activists during his meeting with the President. According to Rodriguez, the President was both receptive and critical of the ideas and concerns brought forth. The Trail of Dreams garnered support from thousands of people and inspired many immigrant students to continue the pursuit of immigration reform.