The Patriot Post® · Senate Almost Checks Obama's Immigration Plans

Senate came one vote shy of giving itself a way to block Obama’s expected executive move granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. The vote was a procedural vote while the Senate was passing the funding bill Thursday that also gave arms and training to the Free Syrian Army. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-LA) used an obscure procedural move that opened the possibility of the Senate checking the president’s executive power. Sessions wrote at National Review, “With this vote, senators will decide whether their allegiance is to President Obama, Majority Leader Reid, and the open-borders lobby, or whether their allegiance is to the American worker, the constitutional order, and our sovereign nation’s immigration laws.” The vote split the chamber 50-50, with five Democrat senators in embattled states waiting until the end to see which way the vote would go before joining the Republicans. Finally, the last vote came down to Democrat Sen. Mark Begich, who thought about voting with the GOP, but sided with his party because no Republican senator reached across the aisle. More…