Governor Abbott Leads Coalition In Filing Amicus Brief Over President Obama’s Executive Amnesty
Governor Greg Abbott today led a coalition of six Governors in filing an Amici Curae - or friend of the court brief - to the United States Supreme Court in United States of America v. Texas over President Obama’s executive amnesty order. Joining Governor Abbott in the submission of this brief are the Governors of Alabama, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
“The Take Care Clause is comprised of only nine words: the President ‘shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed,’” reads the brief. “But a proper understanding of those nine words requires an appreciation of their roots in English history. That history shows that even the King of England could not suspend statutes, authorize individuals to violate statutes, or declare lawful the conduct that statutes declare unlawful.”
The brief concludes by pointing out that even the President, by his own admission, does not have the authority to do this: “The President was correct when he recognized that only Congress can lawfully effectuate DAPA. As he said in October 2010, ‘I am president, I am not king. I can’t do these things just by myself.’ Indeed, even James II could not do these things by himself. The framers adopted the Take Care Clause to ensure that the executive in this Republic is likewise forbidden to make law unilaterally.”