> “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” –(Article I, Section 1, United States Constitution)

“I am not a dictator. I’m the president. … If in fact I could solve all these problems without passing laws in Congress then I would do so. … I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed.” –Barack Obama

If you missed Obama’s well-crafted immigration amnesty announcement to fix “our broken system,” that is because his remarks were only carried by Fox News and, of course, across the board on Latino networks nationwide, Latinos being the target market for this charade.

While the administration feigned outrage that its adoring mainstream media networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – did not carry Obama’s remarks, the White House press did not send out a formal request asking his media boosters to carry his primetime propaganda. Clearly, Democrats would prefer that their lower-income constituents not hear the news that Obama plans to dump 5-10 million immigrants into the labor pool, and millions more to follow, who will compete for limited jobs and drive wages down.

Fact is, as I noted in “The Democrats’ REAL Immigration Strategy,” the Left knows that “labor inflation results in wage deflation.”

But, this political ploy is a win-win for Obama. Republicans will chip away at his order, primarily by defunding and de-authorizing key components of its implementation and issuing legal challenges. Meantime, Democrats will receive credit from both their legal and illegal Latino constituencies for offering amnesty, and can blame those “obstructionist” Republicans for blocking them.

Indeed, if Obama really believed any of his eloquent points justifying amnesty by executive order (EO), Congress would have passed and he would have signed immigration legislation back in 2009 or 2010, when the Democrat Party controlled both the House and Senate. After all, in 2008 he promised, “I can guarantee that we will have, in the first year, an immigration bill that I strongly support.”

But Democrats did nothing.

There are two overarching issues with Obama’s power play.

First and foremost, Obama’s action constitutes a direct assault on our Constitution and the Rule of Law it enshrines. His EO is the boldest attack on the separation of powers since the reign of the last imperial president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Obama previously declared 22 times that he does not have the authority to legislate immigration policy by EO. But as a “lame duck” president, beyond the midterm election that dealt his policies a severe defeat, he has now found the power to legislate from the executive branch.

George Washington University constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley, a self-acknowledged liberal Obama supporter, has issued severe criticism of Obama’s “über presidency” and his abuse of executive orders to bypass Congress. Turley notes: “What’s emerging is an imperial presidency, an über presidency. … When a president can govern alone, he can become a government unto himself, which is precisely the danger that the Framers sought to avoid in the establishment of our tripartite system of government. … Obama has repeatedly violated this [separation of powers] doctrine in the circumvention of Congress in areas ranging from health care to immigration law to environmental law. … What we are witnessing today is one of the greatest challenges to our constitutional system in the history of this country. We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis with sweeping implications for our system of government. … I hope he does not get away with it.”

Unlike Barack Obama, who has wantonly violated his oath to “support and defend our Constitution,” there are millions of Americans who uphold it at risk of their lives. Obama’s actions are an affront to the honor of all Americans who have honored their constitutional oaths.

Second, while most Americans support providing “guest worker” permits for illegal immigrants, many of whom have been in the U.S. for a generation, the sticking point has been and remains the lack of border security.

Obama’s EO will invite a massive wave of illegal immigrants across our borders in the coming years. As Charles Krauthammer put it, “This executive action is a giant neon sign on the Rio Grande saying to Central Americans, ‘If you wait in line and apply for legal immigration, you’re a sap.’ … I would not oppose this if we were serious about shutting the border. … This is an invitation for mass migration.”

Of course, Democrats have obstructed meaningful border security for obvious reasons – they want as many future Latino voters flooding into the country as possible. In leftist parlance, “immigration reform” means providing a jackpot to illegal aliens – giving them official status so they can work and receive all associated taxpayer-subsidized services like housing, schooling and medical care. Once integrated, the second step is to provide a fast-track to citizenship. In other words, for Democrats, immigration reform means first and foremost seeding a large voter constituency.

As for some of the EO specifics outlined by Obama, allow me to take those apart:

BO: When I took office, I committed to fixing this broken immigration system.
MA: But he didn’t, as I have already outlined.

BO: Families who enter our country the right way and play by the rules watch others flout the rules.
MA: And Obama is now rewarding the latter group with amnesty.

BO: Business owners who offer their workers good wages and benefits see the competition exploit undocumented immigrants by paying them far less.
MA: So now, all those jobs can go to people who are willing to do them for far less.

BO: It’s been this way for decades. And for decades, we haven’t done much about it.
MA: As noted, Democrats have obstructed border security measures for decades.

BO: Over the past six years, deportations of criminals are up 80 percent.
MA: Actually, more Demo smoke and mirrors. Obama changed how “deportations” are counted.

BO: Overall, the number of people trying to cross our border illegally is at its lowest level since the 1970s.
MA: Obviously that is because it is evident, even to prospective illegal immigrants, that Obama’s economic “recovery” policies are a colossal failure and the prospects even for low paying jobs have dried up.

BO: There are actions I have the legal authority to take as president – the same kinds of actions taken by Democratic and Republican before me.
MA: Actually, those “actions taken by Democratic and Republican presidents” are in no way comparable to Obama’s EO, as noted by legal scholars both liberal and conservative.

On his three point plan:

BO: First, we’ll build on our progress at the border with additional resources for our law enforcement personnel so that they can stem the flow of illegal crossings, and speed the return of those who do cross over.
MA: No, “build on our progress at the border” is more double talk for obstructing efforts to “stem the flow of illegal crossings.”

BO: Second, I’ll make it easier and faster for high-skilled immigrants, graduates and entrepreneurs to stay and contribute to our economy.
MA: As noted, this really means “receive all associated taxpayer-subsidized services like housing, schooling and medical care” and join the ranks of dependent Democrat voter constituencies.

BO: Third, we’ll take steps to deal responsibly with the millions of undocumented immigrants who already live in our country.
MA: That means, in the end, figure out how to provide them fast-track citizenship.

Obama continues:

BO: We’re a nation of laws.
MA: The audacity of including those words in an announcement to abjectly violate those laws falls squarely into the BIG Lie propaganda category.

BO: It’s not who we are as Americans.
MA: Barack Obama is wholly unqualified to advise Patriots “who we are as Americans.”

BO: Their … hopes, dreams and patriotism are just like ours.
MA: Again, Obama is wholly unqualified to advise Patriots “who we are as Americans.”

BO: We expect people who live in this country to play by the rules.
MA: We expect the same of our president.

BO: I know some of the critics of the action call it amnesty. Well, it’s not MA: Of course it is.

BO: Amnesty is the immigration system we have today. MA: Only because Obama has already used EOs to undermine immigration law enforcement.

BO: To those members of Congress who question my authority … I have one answer: Pass a bill.
MA: Actually, passing a bill comes first. You have no authority to legislate.

BO: That’s not how our democracy works…
MA: Indeed, it is not.

BO: Let me tell you why I … feel so strongly about [immigration].
MA: No, tell us why you did nothing about it in 2009 or 2010 when your party controlled the House and Senate?

BO: [Immigrants are not] taking a dime from the government.
MA: Seriously?

BO: Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger – we were strangers once, too.
MA: So now Obama is citing Exodus 22:21 from a government podium? Can he do that given the whole “wall of separation” thing? I wonder if his mentor Jeremiah Wright added that line for him?

BO: What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal – that all of us are created equal.
MA: Unless you’re Obama, in which case you are above all others.

In his 1796 Farewell address, George Washington declared: “Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.”

But the motive behind Obama’s “immigration reform” is to advance the Democrat Party’s signature political “divide and conquer” strategy.

Let’s see if Republicans can challenge Obama’s constitutional assault without self destructing.