Mary Hyland
10/9/14
Title­ Obama Defends His Use of Executive Authority on Immigration
Source­ New York Times
Date­
November 23, 2014
Writer­ Brian Knowlton
Website­
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us/politics/obama­immigration.html?hp&action=c lick&pgtype=Homepage&module=first­column­region&region=top­news&WT.nav=top­news&_ r=0 ★ President Obama rejected republican criticism in an interview on Sunday that said he was using too much executive power in his actions to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation
○ he also added he was “very restrained”
★ in response many angry republican lawmakers have accused him of unconstitutional and even imperial overreach
★ Obama says history is on his side for many previous republican and democratic presidents have taken similar actions
★ the history is that he has taken far less executive actions than previous presidents and now the differences are the responses coming from congress, particularly the republicans ★ he says historians on modern day presidency would agree he had “actually been very restrained” ★ Obama has framed his action not as an amnesty but to focus federal officials attention on those with criminal records
○ in all five billion out of the estimated eleven billion will be protected
★ he added that republicans were free to pass immigration law to overturn his actions
★ he also asked about concerns of potential violence in Ferguson, Missouri and about the 2016 presidential race
★ in Ferguson a grand jury is expected to decide shortly on whether to indict Darren
Wilson, a white police officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager
○ FBI has warned of potential violence in there or even other cities depending on the outcome
★ Obama urged those in Ferguson to keep protests peaceful but envisioned things going badly he adds that he saw possibility of overwhelmingly peaceful crowds becoming overrun by a few thugs who may be looking for possibilities to loot or to commit vandalism ★ He says he has spoken to Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri to ensure he had a plan to respond to violence and separate the violent from the peaceful
○ more broadly he said law enforcement and minority communities need to deepen their levels of trust
★ Obama says he would wait for responses until he visited Ferguson
★ he also added that he may keep low profile while campaigning of his successor began

★ He says he thinks american’s want new and compared it to a “new­car smell” and
“new mileage”
★ He also acknowledged that if Hillary Clinton takes the democratic election, as expected, she might try to detach herself from his record
★ lastly he said although she may not agree with him on everything, she would make a
“great” president

The article,
“Obama Defends His Use of Executive Authority on Immigration” by Brian
Knowlton, connects to my understanding of the government and politics. President Barack
Obama