John Boehner: On Immigration, Obama ‘Damaging The Presidency Itself’

House Speaker John Boehner accused President Obama of “damaging the presidency itself” through his executive actions on immigration.

“With this action, the president has chosen to deliberately sabotage any chance of enacting bipartisan reforms that he claims to seek,” Boehner said Friday. “And as I told him yesterday, he’s damaging the presidency itself.”

Obama on Thursday night unveiled his plan to allow certain groups of undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. legally on a temporary basis.

Boehner issued a preemptive critique on his YouTube channel.

Since winning substantial majorities in both houses of Congress earlier this month, Republicans have been warning that such an action would invite political discord.

“In the days ahead, the people’s House will rise to the challenge,” Boehner said. “We will not stand idle as the president undermines the rule of law in our country and places lives at risk.”

Speaking in Las Vegas Friday, Obama pushed back against that criticism. He pointed to the Senate-passed bill that did not come up for a vote in the House.

“I told John Boehner, ‘I’ll wash your car, walk your dog, whatever you need to do, just call the bill,” Obama said, according to Reuters. “And he didn’t do it.”

The president also repeated his call to legislators to “pass a bill” if they did not like his actions, and pledged to “keep on working with members of Congress” for a permanent reform bill.

Republicans have yet to agree on a path forward. Some had argued that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is responsible for enforcing President Obama’s plan, should be defunded. But on Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee said that the agency is funded by fees and therefore outside the congressional budgeting process.

“We’re working with our members and looking at the options available to us,” Boehner told reporters. “But I will say to you, the House will, in fact, act.”

Some Republicans called for a strong response, including Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions.

“The president is the one who is acting provocatively, not the Congress,” Sessions told the New York Times. “The last thing this Congress wants to do is have this kind of fight, but at some point the institution has to defend itself.”

Some GOP legislators have argued that Obama’s immigration actions are so constitutionally problematic that they deserve an official rebuke or threats to shut down the government if the White House does not relent. Also on Friday, House Republicans filed a lawsuit against the president for overreaching in implementing Obamacare.

But despite Boehner’s contention that Obama has “damaged the presidency” and carelessly flouted the rule of law with his immigration actions, House Republicans are unlikely to move on any path forward until they return from their weeklong Thanksgiving break.