tonight. ms. megyn is next. i am bill o'reilly. and please remember the spin stops right here cause we are definitely looking out for you. breaking tonight, president obama unveiling his plan to let millions of people who broke the laws of this land stay in the united states. and he is doing it without congressional approval despite his past statements nay arguments that he simply didn't have the authority to do this. tonight there was no explanation for the complete 180 he has done other than his declaration tonight, i have the authority. welcome to "the kelly file" everyone. i'm megyn kelly. the president's remarks lasting about 15 minutes. mr. obama suggesting this is not only the right thing to do for the nation and for illegal immigrant families, but he does it evoking scripture and even

president bush. here are a few highlights. >> today, our immigration system is broken. and everybody knows it. when i took office, i committed to fixing this broken immigration system. i worked with congress on a comprehensive fix. and last year 68 democrats, republicans and independents, came together to pass a bipartson bill in the senate. it wasn't perfect. it was a compromise. but it reflected common sense. had the house of representatives allowed that kind of bill a simple yes or no vote, it would have passed with support from both parties. and today it would be the law. but for a year and a half now republican leaders in the house have refused to allow that vote. so if you've been in america for more than five years, if you have children that are american citizens or legal residents, if you registered, pass a criminal background check and willing to

pay your fair share of taxes, you'll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily without fear of deportation. you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. i know some of the critics of this action call it amnesty. well, it's not. amnesty is the immigration system we have today. millions of people who live here without paying their taxes or playing by the rules while politicians use the issue to scare people and whip up votes at election time. the actions i'm taking are not only lawful, they're the kinds of actions taken by every single republican president and every single democratic president for the past half century. to those members of congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better or question the wisdom of me acting where congress has failed, i have one answer, pass a bill. americans are tired of gridlock. >> we have a jam packed hour for you tonight. a stop senator with some republican reaction, a former justice department attorney on

whether this is legal, a lawmaker who legally immigrated to the u.s. who considers this a slap in the face. plus, a top democrat from the southern border state. but we begin with our chief white house correspondent ed henry. ed. >> megyn, the president saying he not only has that power but his aides telling me in private they believe republicans on the hill cannot stop him. if they try to cut off the funding for any of these moves, the white house thinks they can block that. so it is full steam ahead for them. and the bottom line tonight he decide today go it alone hoping it will force broader action by republicans when they take over congress in january, but it might end up blowing up in his face. i'm told by his advisers he doesn't care about the flak he was getting. when he came back from asia he said to his aides rngs do we do it now or wait until after mid-december after budget talks? he decided to do it now because he was going to take flak either way and wanted to go on offense

in terms of this debate. the problem is he's starting to get resistance not just from republicans but some democrats. at least two senate democrats out saying this is a bad idea. "i ams a frustrated as anyone that congress is not doing its job, but the president shouldn't make such significant policy changes on his own." joe manchin in west virginia saying i disagree with the president's decision to use executive action to make changes to our immigration system and disagree with the house's decision to not take a vote on the bipartisan legislation that overwhelmingly passed in june 2013. in that last part saying the republicans have some blame here as well and that when they take over the house and senate in january they've got to move forward. the president's argument is the last four years the republicans in congress blocked him. what he did not mention tonight is the first two years he was in office he had a democratic

house, democratic senate, didn't get anywhere on immigration reform. bottom line is the president said i want a rational debate but in the next breath said i'm going it alone. that's an interesting contrast, megyn. >> ed henry, thank you. somebody tweeted out online saying, debate, i do not think he understands the meaning of that word. the princess bride, right? here to join us, marc thiessen, former chief speech writer for president george w. bush. marc, he says he does not care about the flak he's getting. what he does care about is the fact we are ripping families apart. >> yeah. that's really what he cares about. this was a moving beautifully written and deeply cynical speech because if the president of the united states really believed a word of what he said, he would not be doing this with executive action. the thing about it, he's not trying to help illegal immigrants. he's trying to provoke a fight with the republican party. and the money quote was, he said meanwhile don't let a disagreement over a single issue be a deal breaker on every

issue. that's not how a democracy works and congress shouldn't shut down the government again because we disagree on this. that's exactly what he wants republicans to do. he's trying to goad the gop into self-destructive behavior. he wants somebody to go out there and offer articles of impeachment. he wants somebody to go out there and say something bad about immigrants because he wants to rally his base and make the gop blow itself up. so this was a cynical use of the immigration issue to advance this political goal. >> you don't think he's interested in winning republican votes at all? >> well, let's put it this way, if he had given the exact same speech minus the executive action, this probably would have been one of the most powerful speeches of his presidency. this would have been a clarion call -- he said let's work together in a bipartisan way in order to pass this bill, he would have had a supermajority of americans behind him. 74% of americans believe there should be a path to citizenship if people pay their taxes, pay a

penalty and have a security background check. but 48% oppose what he's doing. so if he had said let's do this the right way, this was a call for legislation as opposed to an explanation of executive action, he could have rallied the country. but he's less interested in winning republican votes than driving -- using immigration to drive voters away from republicans. >> it was interesting to see only the cable nets even took the speech tonight. the main networks, you know, mainstream media, abc, cbs and nbc said we're not taking it. >> and they said -- and the explanation in politico today was because it's so overtly political. even the mainstream media recognizes this is just politics. and it really is -- >> but he got on univision. >> he did get on univision. >> and the latin grammys. >> coincidences are amazing in politics, aren't they, megyn. >> what does it tell us? >> it tells us that he is interested in one, provoking republicans, and two, rallying the base that abandoned him in the midterm election. this is an effort not to write the immigration system.

it's to rite his political ship to get their ducks in order for the 2016 races. the stories he told, quoting scripture, talking about these immigrants who had come here and these moving stories. if all of that was for the purpose of a bipartisan effort, then it would have been beautiful. but it was done in a way that is completely -- unilateral that is intended to blow up the process. he knows he's not going to get immigration reform passed. >> he talks about are we a nation that rips children from their parents arms or are we a nation that values family. to me that struck me as ironic because he by executive action allowed children who had been brought here illegally by their parents, their parents made an unlawful move, to stay. he did that by executive action a couple years ago. now that those parents are still being told they need to leave, he says we're ripping the children from the parents arms.

the only reason the children and parents are separating if they are is because you said the children could stay even though they've been brought here illegally. >> and who in his mind wants to rip children from his parents arms? republicans, conservatives? that's what the implication of that statement is. the reason we don't have comprehensive immigration reform is because of his immigration policy. his last executive order spurred 50,000 undocumented children, unaccompanied minors to the border, which meant that any pro-immigration reform republican couldn't possibly vote for immigration reform. now he's going to do it again, create another magnet to the border that's going to undermine reform. he knows this is not going to lead to legislation. >> we've got the lawyers here and we're going to get into his obvious failure to explain his sudden realization that he has the legal authority to do this after six years saying explicitly he doesn't. i want to ask you about his references to past presidents because he repeatedly prior to this the white house and his

defenders have cited president bush 41 and president reagan saying, and the president tonight saying all democratic and republicdone actions simila one. >> yeah. president reagan and president bush 41 did executive action after congress had just passed immigration reform. president obama is taking executive action because congress will not pass immigration reform. so it's the exact opposite of what reagan and bush did. i love the fact he quoted george w. bush which is the first time he did without blaming him for something. that was cynical too. of all the times to pick george w. bush he's now using -- he's quoting him now. >> it was interesting because those presidents did -- what they did was ronald reagan granted true amnesty where 3 million people received the right to stay here with the cooperation of congress. it was a law. but then he needed to do an executive action to help implement that law. and then so did the person who succeeded him, george h.w. bush.

so with the law on the books issued executive actions to try to implement that law, things that hadn't been covered. and congress said we'll do it, they ratified the actions and then passed another law that said just in case another president is thinking about doing this, we want to make perfectly clear this is not your authority, this is ours so stop doing that. so it's an interesting thing because that piece of it gets left out when people are talking about this situation. marc, thanks for being here. >> thanks, megyn. >> of course the big question tonight is is this legal? that's really been the debate all along. as marc points out the majority of americans are in favor of doing something to resolve this situation. but the question here is does he just get to do it because he wants it but the people's representatives who we've put in office say no? i mean, is that how it works? the house says no. we're not doing it. so the president says, fine, forget you, i'm doing it on my own? ahead we're going to dig deeper into the law with a former

d.o.j. prosecutor and hear why this move may be a slap in the face for a lot of struggling americans. and is the gop to blame for the president having to go it alone? we'll put that question and more to senator ron johnson, a republican with a response to the president when we return in moments. >> for all the back and forth in washington we have to remember that this debate is about something bigger. it's about who we are as a country and who we want to be for future generations.

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have passed with support from both parties. and today it would be the law. but for a year and a half now republican leaders in the house have refused to allow that simple vote. >> so you heard him, president obama suggesting republicans are the reason he has had to go it alone on immigration. joining me now to respond wisconsin senator ron johnson, a republican who is set to take over as the chairman of the homeland security committee in the next congress. also member of the budget and foreign relations committees. senator, good to see you tonight. senator, let me start with that, it must be so frustrating when you really, really want to have a vote on a measure that comes into the chamber that the leadership just simply won't allow it. i'm sure you as a current member of the minority who's about to be a member of the majority don't know anything about that. harry reid has never done that to you. >> yeah, megyn, we have our frustrations as well. but we also have a constitution that has to be followed. americans have to remember that president obama promised the hispanic community that he would solve immigration in his first

year. in his first two years he had filibuster-proof majority in the senate. he controlled washington. he didn't do it. that ought to speak volumes to the fact president obama by and large doesn't want to solve the problem. he wants a political issue. and what's unfortunate about what he did tonight is it just makes it that much more difficult to find the common ground, to find the agreement, to solve the problem. because i'm certainly a senator that voted no on the senate bill because it didn't fix the problem. >> how so? because he spent a lot of time on that. he says it's you guys. pass a bill -- putting aside the fact that's really not how this system works. you can't just ignore congress. but let's assume that he has the authority to do all of this. why wouldn't you work with him? why hasn't there been another push for a new bill? >> first of all, let me tell you, the senate bill, cbo evaluated that and said it would allow 70% of illegal immigration to continue. so it obviously didn't fix the problem. regardless of what he has done here, i am going to use my chairmanship to first of all craft and then pass a very

strong border security and enforcement bill. that is the first step in any immigration system that would actually work, reform that would actually solve the problem. so i'm dedicated to doing that. i've already reached out to other committee chairmen in both the house and senate chlgt we're going to craft that bill over the next couple months, hopefully hold hearings, get that passed. and then i will work with this president to finally solve the problem. but he has made it far more difficult because rather than find those areas of agreement he picked a fight. it's a bad way to start a relationship. >> even though he said he wanted to work with congress after the midterm elections. now, my question for you is what else are you going to do. we had senator cruz on the program last night who was talking about how he doesn't think the president should get an up or down vote on his nominations unless it relates to homeland security, important posts relating to our safety. but he doesn't think that president should get the up or down vote in the senate and thinks some appropriations bills can be maneuvered. he thinks some sort of writers

can be put on appropriations to say not a single dollar should go to enforce your plan. >> president obama has exceeded his executive authority across the board on obamacare and of course now on immigration. and now that we have a republican majority in the senate we will be able to use the power of the purse. and we should do so. the best way of doing that is pass a budget and all 12 appropriation bills, and megyn, here's a real key. we have to start with higher priority appropriation bills in defense and then work our way down. and by doing that appropriation bills are the one area where the senate and congress can actually prioritize spending. and we can defund areas of president obama's lawlessness. so we should do so. so we should use the power of the purse. we haven't been able to do that with senator harry reid because he's bundled all these appropriation bills into one bill, ends up being a hobson's choice, up or down vote to shut down the entire government. we'll have a far more greater

leverage in those negotiation. >> can you do it? because reporting earlier from ed henry was that the president's supporters don't believe that the republicans can stop this by messing with the appropriations. >> it all depends. you know, it's hard to defund inaction. if president obama simply refuses to act, how do you defund that? but where he's actually acting and where he's doing it without legal authority i think we. and not only immigration. we can start doing it with obamacare and other areas where he's exceeded his constitutional mandate -- >> but how would you? i would imagine if you're going to get a temporary work permit here if you're an illegal immigrant who benefitted tonight, somebody's got to process that. someone's got to pay for it. people are actually going to have to work on this. can you defund that effort? >> yeah, so you can defund that office that's going to issue those permits. not even that broad. you can say no funds in this appropriation bill shall be used to issue those permits. that happens all the time. >> will it go back on the republicans if they do that? >> not if it's very targeted and

very limited. what are we talking about? maybe denying a couple million dollars worth of spending issuing those permits? this is not threatening government shutdown or anything drastic. this is just very targeted at those actions where he's exceeded his legal authority. >> the president defenders are going to say you're tearing apart families, we're trying to help children here. >> president obama is not really interested in a solution. he's interested in a political issue. we want to solve the problem. the only way you do that is you first have to secure the border. once you've done that then the american public will have the confidence and you won't be insulting the rule of law. you won't be insulting those immigrants that came here and followed the law. >> senator johnson, good to see you, sir. >> have a great night. >> you too. president obama says the actions he's taking are legal. it was a one-liner, i have the authority. that referencing the 25 other times he is on camera we showed you last night in a ten-minute bit where he said specifically

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most important if he feels so strongly about this and scripture dictates that this ought to be done, why did he do nothing about this in 2009 and 2010 when he had control of the white house, the house and the senate and he could actually have done this constitutionally by passing legislation? >> well, that was charles krauthammer just a short time ago on "the factor" questioning when he had the majority in both

the house and senate for the first two years of his presidency. geraldo rivera, fox news senior correspondent joins me now. >> hi, megyn. >> hi. good to see you. let's start with that. >> it's not relevant to me. he's absolutely right, charles is absolutely right. the president could have done it. it really made me angry he chose to go with obamacare rather than immigration reform even though he had told the latino community and the asian-american community that immigration reform was his priority. but it doesn't matter tonight. what matters tonight is he is doing finally the right thing. he may be doing it for awful base reasons, political reasons, i don't know and i don't care. i care that he is finally done the right thing for law-abiding -- otherwise law-abiding family immigrants who've been here five years or more who have in every other way followed the law. these are people, the seeds of the earth, these are people that make america strong and i'm glad he's done it. >> what about his 25 on-camera

statements over the years that he doesn't have the authority? i mean, i watched them all and they started with general and said no, i can't, i can't, i can't. then they got so specific when he kept saying all those years he didn't have authority, those univision and telemundo reporters gave it to him. why can't you write an executive action that expands what you did for the dreamers, for the kids, to allow their parents to stay? and even in response to that he said i don't have the authority. >> he again -- but again, i don't care. what about marco rubio who was going to be a champion of immigration reform and then chickened out in the face of -- >> that's not illegal. >> john mccain was a champion of immigration reform. where has he been? >> that's political spine ri. that's about their spines. >> i don't care about the politics. >> but you're a lawyer, you care about the law. >> this is legal. it may be hypocritical, it may

be done for the worst reasons, but it is legal. i guarantee you. ask 100 constitutional scholars -- >> jonathan turley, he's a constitutional scholar, he says it's not. >> he hasn't heard what the president proposes. >> we know -- >> absolute discretion to do what he's just done. there will not be a successful lawsuit. i will bet my mortgage that this will not happen. this is reaction to the fact that the house of representatives, the leadership, john boehner, is powerless. his body has been totally taken over of steve king of iowa, by mel brooks of alabama -- >> but the thing that i keep coming back to. this isn't a position on illegal immigration. it's just about executive power which you know is potentially dangerous if expanded too large because who knows, even the democrats need to worry because who's going to go in there next and what is he or she going to do with it? the problem for president obama is the house gets a vote.

they get a vote. even if you don't like the fact that they're not into your bill. >> the house had no intention of voting, megyn. we have to be square about that. the republicans are defectively leave the house had no intention whatsoever of ever passing the bill. they had it coming. they really had it coming. they did. they waited and waited. they have been blaming these people for everything -- falsely for isis and ebola. they would blame the immigrants for climate change if they believed in climate change. they've made them scapegoats. >> i only have a minute left but i want to ask you to switch -- just make the case for who's going to benefit from this law. >> we have the picture behind you new york city 8.4 million people, there are 500,000 undocumented immigrants in this city. you never hear about them, why? because they're not flashy making crimes, they're family people. you see them caring for children, mowing lawns, you see

them working in factories and in fields. those are the people who benefit. the people who have historically made this country strong. i understand that most of our viewers disagree with me on this. but what matters to me is that these are the very people that make this nation what it is. a nation that is youthful and vigorous and vibrant and attracts people from all over the world. we take these diverse, you know, streams and we say come to this mighty river that's america. that's what's the difference between us and russia. we are ascendant and they are descenda descendant. >> one thing, you might be wrong about the viewers disagreeing with you, maybe on executive action, but as thiessen pointed out 74% of americans believe there should be a pathway to citizenship, but the majority still want it done lawfully. that debate remains open. geraldo, great to see you. >> megyn, my pleasure. >> now geraldo and president obama say the president has the

legal authority to make this move despite his past arguments. he's been arguing that the constitution doesn't allow it. we will turn to a former federal prosecutor next. >> the actions i'm taking are not only lawful, they're the kinds of actions taken by every single republican president and every single democratic president for the pa ♪ (holiday music is playing) hey! i guess we're going to need a new santa ♪(the music builds to a climax.) more people are coming to audi than ever before. see why now is the best time. audi will cover your first month's payment on select models at the season of audi sales event. visit audioffers.com today. ime know i'm doing a good job.ts i like it when my toothpaste lets me know too. that's why i went pro. go pro with crest pro-health. for an intensive clean. i can really feel it deep cleaning my mouth.

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single democratic president for the past half century. >> president obama, are you in very different from what we've heard from you for six years. after 25 on-camera statements, that's just the stuff we could dig up. i don't know how many there are out there of the president saying over and over again he doesn't have the legal authority to do this. he's been pressed by immigration reform supporters to do this saying come on, forget the house, they suck. do it yourself. go around them. do it by executive action. and he has said in every form he could over the past six years, i can't, don't you think i would do it if i could? i can't. tonight, i have the legal authority, plus the republicans are really bad. andy mccar think spent nearly two decades -- would receive the justice department's highest honors, attorney general's exceptional service award.

contributing editor to the national review and author of faceless execution. i'm not pushing the audience on any of their beliefs when it comes to whether we should find a path to legalization or shouldn't. but the president's own words tell us this is unlawful. and tonight he owed us more than to come out there and just not explain his 180, his complete 180 other than to say i have the legal authority. >> well, he certainly is doing a 180. i don't think he feels he owes the country anything more because he knows the media will carry his water on this. i don't think when he made those statements again and again and again that president obama has ever thought himself to be limited by what the law says. i mean, if that was the case, why should it be the case on immigration when it hasn't been the case on anything else? >> why was he saying that all those times? >> he's got a base who wants him

to do more. when we say obama is an -- i don't mean that as an epithet. that's a school of thought that has practical tactic. one of them is you have to remain politically viable which means you never get too far out in front no matter how much your base pushes you of where you think the electorate is ready to go. >> so he just relied on this statement about the law whether he believed that or not. >> right. >> and now he does think he can go there politically. >> yeah. because he figures, you know, number one, at this point he doesn't have another election to worry about. and i think he thinks incrementally especially when you listen to what he said tonight, frankly less extravagant than i thought it was going to be. i think he figures he can push it along and try to at this point nudge the process. and if there's political blowback, it's not that important to him anymore. >> is he right in banking on the fact that, a, a republican president who may come after him

will probably not reverse this executive action if he's had two years of 5 million illegal immigrants being treated as temporary legal workers and so on, and b, that if anything happens within the republican congress to try to dial this back or pinch the spending or what have you that the american public will hold it against the gop and not against him. >> i don't think this is static. i think this is step one. i don't think this is the end. i think it's a big belly hood speech and it should be. but i think this is the first step in what's going to be an incremental process -- >> oh, really? you think 5 million is the begin sng. >> listen, what he said today is we're america, we don't rip families apart. well, under the plan you laid out tonight they're still going to be ripping millions of families about. >> there's reaction on twitter saying why not do it for 11 million, why just the 5? >> i think this will expand. and i think the other thing that will be thrown into the ringer and i was relieved to see he didn't do it tonight, is i think

he's going to pardon everyone at the end. >> that's different from just deferring prosecution or saying i'm not going to prosecute you. this is a full pardon, does that amount to legalization to citizenship? >> it gets murky because under the law if you pardon someone it's like the crime never happened in the first place. so if you punish people for having illegally come into the country, at least some judges might say you're stigmatizing them with the conduct forgiven by the pardon. >> are these people going to get benefits now? >> yes. well, see, when he says he's just acting in his unquestioned authority, he's right about that if he's saying we're not going to deport these people. but you don't have to like give them a certificate of relief of deportation, just don't deport them. >> which is what's been happening anyway. >> right. when he talks about positive legal benefits, when he talks about work permits or licenses to protect them against deportation, those are things

that can only be legislated. only congress can do that. the president simply doesn't have power to do that. >> let me challenge you on that statement you made about not deporting folks and making that your policy. in my own legal research and in talking to jonathan turley last week, doesn't there come a point that, okay, i use my prosecutorial discretion as president to -- certain deportations over others. criminals and so on. doesn't there come a point at which you've crossed over into an abdication of duty? you would prioritize i'm going after this one and not this one. you can't say i use my discretion to go after no one. that would be a flouting of your obligation. >> you're going to make me say the i-word, aren't you? this is the fact. the president could get up tomorrow and say, you know, it's friday, i feel like pardoning everyone in federal prison on account of drug offenses. he could do that. he has the unquestioned authority to do that under the

constitution. it would be a gross abuse of power. so it's lawful in the sense that he has the power to do it, but the only means in the constitution to check that is to impeach him. there's no other way to deal with that. you're quite right, there's a place where prosecutorial discretion properly done if it's improperly done can cross over into an abdication of the duty -- >> faithfully execute the warrant. there's other things congress can do. cut off the money. >> they're talking about all that. >> that's all to bend him into not abdicating his duties. but as far as prosecutorial discretion is concerned neither congress nor the courts have any power to direct him to enforce the law. >> i think we're seeing that tonight. andy mccarthy, good to see you. so what about the folk who is are waiting to come here legally? imagine what they think about this. or the americans wonder whag this means for the job market.

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the raw deal for over a decade. i hear those concerns. but that's not what these steps would do. >> that was president obama just a short time ago reassuring american workers that his immigration plan will not affect them. my next guest came to this country from el salvador legally with his family at just 5 years old. he worked his way to the top of his college class and is now a state lawmaker in arizona. he disagrees with the president's argument. joining me now republican state representative steve -- good of you to be here tonight. i know you feel this is a slap in the face to immigrant who is have waited their turn to come here legally. how so? >> thank you for having me, megyn. first of all, this is utter lawlessness. this is a phenomenal disrespect and disregard for the constitution of this country, for the laws of our country. and frankly it's rewarding people who have broken the law, the immigration laws, it's rewarding those people. now, it's a slap in the face to immigrants because first of all that's the reason people

immigrate to this country. no one is above the law. everybody is supposed to respect the law, not the president of the united states, nobody's above the law. >> but now, let me ask because the president would say it's not rewarding them, it's acknowledging the reality that they're here, they're not going to leave. it's not realistic to deport them. so why don't we just be real about what's happening. >> if you're an immigrant that came to this country legally, you went through the rigorous process of the immigration system, this is a slap in the face to you. if you are an immigrant or someone trying to immigrate to this country, somebody that'sg their case is on somebody's desk waiting to get the permission, legal permission to do it, this is a slap in the face to them as well because you just told them you should have broken the law and you would be okay being here. >> but you wouldn't have citizenship. these folks are not going to have citizenship. at least not yet. >> sure. these are the laws of this country. today's action really is an

inflammatory action to play with our emotions, play with people's emotions, and frankly we just need to know that what he's trying to do is pin americans against americans. >> do you think this will benefit the president politically at least with his base, with the democrats? >> sure. i think that this is what he desires. he's doing all this for political gain. i disagree. i actually think the hispanic people, immigrants, people that are here legally and people that want to get involved in the political process are seeing right through it. he's playing political games, because if he really cared as he said he did, he could have done this the first two years of his presidency. he told univision, the top anchor, one of the top anchors in univision, he promised to do something the first year of his presidency. he did not come through. the second year, nothing. and he owed congress, both the house and senate, for four years he's been making promises of working with congress, nothing. today, after election he says, all right, i'm going to make this move which he knows is likely unconstitutional, which

he knows is extending the reasonable boundaries of the constitution, he knows what he's doing but he knows now he can at least say i'm going to be able to blame somebody else. >> try. >> try. >> this is just a snapshot, but look at the celebrations outside the white house tonight. they're cheering, they're waving american flags. this group of people gathered to support what the president did. does that tell us anything? >> again, he's playing with their emotions. he doesn't care. if he would want to do something, he could have done it the first two years. he took over one-sixth of our economy, the health care industry. and now he's doing something we all know is temporary, right? we know he's crossing the constitution, but there are also temporary measures that won't last forever. and what then? what then with this soured situation in washington, with congress not wanting to touch this because the president decided to sidestep them and act on his own.

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we're for creating more innovation and competition. we're for net neutrality protection. now, here's some news you may find even more surprising. we're comcast. the only isp legally bound by full net neutrality rules. video now watching the president's remarks. folks outside of the white house where people gathered in what looked like a show of support for the president's immigration plan. our next guest stands in a particularly unique position as he is not only a democrat out of texas but a representative of some four counties that fall along our southern most border. democratic congressman out of texas and member of the house appropriations committee. sir good to see you again

tonight. greg abbott, your new governor, has already come out and said he's going to sue. that he will sue to guarantee the rule of law. he doesn't feel as you do. what do you make of his chances? >> again, the supreme court has already said that the president has -- any president has flexibility in enforcing immigration law. i know greg abbott. he is a friend of mine. we just have a policy difference on this one. >> what do you make of the president's decision not to explain his reversal from the numerous times he's said on camera he did not have the authority to do this? >> you're absolutely right. i'm not going to defend why he said so many times he didn't have the power and now he's evolved to say that he does have the power. all i know is that an attorney and my work that i've done and i'm familiar with this type of executive orders and the president, he does have that power. why he went from one position to the other i can't explain that.

you have to ask him that. nevertheless we know that the average executive orders that a president puts out during an eight-year period is between 200 and 400. this president had 193 -- >> i know. you know it's not about the number. it's the scope. never before has a president, you know, done this kind of thing to effect this number of people. but i would love to ask. maybe you can send that up for me because i would love to ask him directly. the other point that en some who are in favor of, you know, comprehensive reform, that would be passed by congress. that would be a law that could potentially grant more than the president has granted, ie, a path to citizenship. they say the president has poisoned that well now. the lawmakers in congress sort of have no incentive to work for him now. >> listen. we've got to be intellectually honest, not you, but members of

congress. either for or against immigrati immigration. this has been the least productive congress in modern history. if they wanted to pass an immigration law, we could have done this. we could have done this. it's been sitting. we never had an up and down vote. in fact, there were democrats and republicans needing to work this out. we never have a vote. so forget about what happened today just for a while. the well, talking about the well being poisoned, why not pass a bill. we had an opportunity. let's be honest. either say you're for it or against it, but don't use process as an excuse for not supporting immigration reform. >> representative good to see you sir.

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some reaction coming in, gohmert saying this is a royal decree. jim says let's end the imperial presidency. ted cruz saying this is unfair to every president who ever played by the rules. tomorrow night you will hear from senator jeff sessions.yfil

your thoughts. thanks for watching. here's "hannity." welcome to "hannity." this is a fox news alert. it is official, the president of the united states has announced his plans to go it alone on immigration and bypass congress in order to gran