Barack Obama is banking on the Supreme Court to save his amnesty executive order, which many conservatives have argued is unconstitutional.
Last month, a U.S. District Judge ruled to temporarily stop Obama’s issuance of work permits for up to 5 million illegal aliens–claiming that such a unilateral action directly violates existing congressional laws.
Since then, the Obama White House has been convinced that the decision will be overturned by a higher court.
But last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to lift the hold on amnesty–showing that, contrary to Obama’s previous explanations, this executive order isn’t under attack by just one judge.
Recently, Obama has set his sights higher. Realizing amnesty has little chance of survival in lower courts, he’s hoping to take this fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
Republicans, however, have a very different view of what’s happening.
“We now have an exit sign,” said Sen. John McCain, succinctly.
With amnesty tied up in the courts, Obama is attempting to launch a massive smear campaign to discredit the judges who ruled against him. Obama’s own press secretary, Josh Earnest, has even joined the fray–circulating a letter from various “legal scholars” to attack the judges’ rulings and credibility.
Despite Obama doing everything he can to save his amnesty plans, it’s clear that he’s in for an uphill battle at best, even if the lawsuits go all the way to the Supreme Court.
