US Congress, President Obama

President Obama, the elected leader of the United States, is moving forward with his plans to act alone on immigration and to make major changes using an executive order. After the midterm election results this is a bold move, and perhaps a foolish one as well. Can the US Congress stop the president though, or are they helpless to do anything about the move that some say is presidential overreach? The United States Congress does have some options, but none that are without drawbacks and disadvantages though. Congress does control funding, and it is possible that the new Republican majority in both houses of the US Congress may decide to keep President Obama from any real changes to immigration by cutting off his access to funding for the programs that he is planning.

From all the reports so far neither President Obama nor the US Congress wants to shut down the government. This happened last year when both parties could not agree, and both sides received some blame and lost credibility and trust with the American public. This is not a scenario that anyone who is elected to their current position wants to revisit. There is talk of suing the president, but some believe there is a better solution. If the US Congress passes laws that make the executive orders from President Obama obsolete then this could be a winning solution for Republicans. A law restricting the number of work permits or green cards, or even a law requiring that immigration laws are enforced as written could solve the issue.