Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) appeared on Fox’s “The Kelly File” last night and said that the President has “a pattern” of taking executive action and ignoring Congress on issues from Obamacare, to immigration, to war powers. “I don’t even know how you can – with a straight face – defend the indefensible” Paul said of President Obama’s reversal on executive action for immigration.
Paul: “How do you defend against the president’s actual words – 20 times – saying he didn’t have the power?”
“The President went even so far as to say he’s not a king, he’s not an emperor, that he can’t do this,” Paul said.
“And now we have a complete about face and everyone’s going to say, ‘Oh, well, the President changed his mind,’” said Paul.
“Is this just disrespectful? Why not just say ‘Yes he reversed himself,'” asked show host Megyn Kelly. “And the President could explain why he did that… Why look us in the face and try to tell us what we saw on camera two dozen times did not exist and we were just too stupid to understand?"
“Well you know I think this isn’t just one issue,” said Paul. “There’s a pattern of this type of behavior. On Obamacare they have amended Obamacare after the fact, now they’re doing it on immigration. They’ve also done it on war powers as well. The Constitution gives this power to Congress, and now the President just says ‘I’ll do it.’”
“But when the President ran for office he said adamantly he didn’t have the power to [wage] war also without Congressional authority,” said Paul. “So he’s changed his mind on a host of issues.”