Americans are evenly divided as to whether President Barack Obama should act unilaterally to reshape the immigration system but they broadly oppose a government shutdown as a way to stop him, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.
By a 68 to 25 percent margin, voters don’t want Congress to shut down “major activities of the federal government” in order to thwart Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
Even Republican voters surveyed said they oppose a shutdown to stop Obama, by a narrow margin of 47 to 44 percent.
The findings highlight the challenge facing lawmakers like Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who are pushing to use government funding as leverage to undo the president’s sweeping executive actions announced on Thursday, which could shield some 4.4 million undocumented immigrants from the threat of deportation.
Overall, the poll found narrow disapproval for an executive move on immigration, by a 48 to 45 percent margin, with voters sharply divided along party lines.
The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,623 registered voters nationwide from Nov. 18 to 23, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
