Cruz: Obama's Immigration Order 'Lawless Amnesty'

President Barack Obama is defending his executive immigration order, saying he's been very restrained on the matter.

Obama says he waited a long time for Congress to act before he finally issued the order last week.
    
But Republicans and other critics, including some liberals, say the president has overreached.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling on the incoming Senate majority leader to deter the president's decision.

"For 4 to 5 million people here illegally, he's promising to print up and give work authorizations," Cruz told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace. "Essentially he's gotten in the job of counterfeiting immigration papers."

Cruz says if the president implements "lawless amnesty," the Senate should not confirm any executive or judicial nominees for the next two years other than vital national security positions.

"Well, the notion that this is just prosecutorial discretion is simply nonsense," he said. "The Constitution gives Congress the authority to establish our immigration laws. What the president announced this week is a wholesale refusal to follow our immigration laws, to enforce our immigration."

Cruz also noted the president acknowledged 22 times in the past five years he had no constitutional right to issue this executive order.

Meanwhile, the incoming governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, says his state is going ahead with a lawsuit against the president over his executive action.