Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) warned Tuesday that if Congress fails to act on immigration reform, President Barack Obama could act unilaterally to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants by executive order.
Appearing on Tallahassee talk radio program “The Morning Show With Preston Scott,” Rubio, who helped to broker a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate, warned that his colleagues in the House must address the issue or face losing ground on key reforms like border security.
“I have been saying for more than a year that I believe that this president will be tempted,” Rubio said. “If nothing happens in Congress, he will be tempted to issue an executive order, like he did for the DREAM Act kids a year ago, where he basically legalizes 11 million people by the sign of a pen.”
“We won’t get any E-Verify, we won’t get any border security, but he’ll legalize them,” he continued.
The Obama administration stopped deporting DREAMers, or immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, in 2012. The policy affected as many as 800,000 immigrants.
Listen to audio of Rubio’s appearance on the radio show below:
[h/t The Hill]
