Angered by executive actions taken last month by President Obama, Republicans in the House voted to approve a bill designed to block the implementation of those moves, as GOP lawmakers said the President's unilateral actions were unconstitutional.
"It was the President himself who had said over twenty times why this action is illegal," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA).
"Mr. Obama does not have the constitutional authority to grant amnesty by issuing work visas to five million people here illegally," said Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL).
There were some members of both parties who broke ranks with their leaders:
+ 3 Democrats voted for the bill - Rep. John Barrow (D-GA), Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) and Rep. Colin Peterson (D-MN)
+ 3 Republicans voted "Present" - Rep. Steve King (R-IA), Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
+ 7 Republicans voted against the bill - Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA), Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Rep. Ilean Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) and Rep. David Valadao (R-CA).
While the vast majority of Republicans denounced the President, Democrats ridiculed the GOP move, as Senate Democrats made clear this legislation will not be voted on this year.
Instead, Democrats urged Republicans to bring up a Senate-passed immigration reform bill for a vote.
Most Republicans I interviewed over the last few days say they think next year will see action both on efforts to overturn the Obama efforts and on smaller, targeted pieces of immigration legislation.
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