From the annals of checks and balances - as well as the limits of executive power, complete with a dash of judicial procedures.
- Click here for the story.
- Click here for the story.
A federal appeals court said Monday that President Obama could not move forward with his plans to overhaul immigration rules by providing up to five million people with work permits and protection from deportation.
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, ruled 2 to 1 against an appeal by the Obama administration, saying a lawsuit brought by 26 states to block Mr. Obama’s actions was likely to succeed at trial.
The ruling is the latest blow to the president’s efforts to circumvent congressional inaction on immigration by using the power of his office to reshape the way immigration laws are enforced.
But the ruling may have come just soon enough to allow Mr. Obama’s lawyers to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court for consideration next year. Administration officials are hoping that the Supreme Court will overturn the lower-court rulings and let the president carry out his immigration program.
