Why did Ronald Reagan have to pass an Immigration reform bill for amnesty but Obama can do it all by himself?

[bardoul]

Congress had to pass the The Immigration Reform and Control Act before Reagan could sign it into law on November 6, 1986.

Why can Obama do it all by himself now when he said in July 2011 he couldn't act without congress?

Did the Constitution change?

[ardwyad]

All Presidents have used the Executive Order or a form of the Executive Order to command and operate the Federal Government. Some used the Executive Order to push through laws when the Senate and Congress failed to move forward on what the leader of the free world felt were urgent and necessary laws that needed to be enacted immediately.

George W. Bush (R) (2001-2009) had a total of 291 Executive Orders throughout his 8 years in office.
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/orders/

This isn’t amnesty. It’s simply refusing to punish children for what their parents did, which makes moral good sense.

“I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and have lived here even though some time back they may have entered here illegally.” ~ Ronald Reagan.

The immigration reform supported by Ronald Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Republicans like to forget about that. They also want to ignore the potential impact of immigration reform on the economy. The economic impact of the Dream Act would, over the next ten years cause a $1.7 billion revenue increase and a $2.2 billion deficit reduction, according to the CBO. These benefits put Republicans behind the 8-ball when it comes to their opposition to reform.

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[sonny]

That's not what Obama's done. He doesn't have the power to enact a proper amnesty on his own, and that's not what he did.

Congress refuses to act on immigration or anything else. The Republicans in the Senate won't allow a single bill to be submitted for an up or down vote. The Senate isn't supposed to need 60 votes to pass bills, but that's what's happening. Why don't you care about the Constitution on that score?

[elkanah1]

Obama is shamelessly politically pandering

[aldric13]

He did it with an executive order. he wanted Congress to pass it because it would be permanent.

An executive order can be changed and that's not what any one wanted.

He has to settle because no one will cooperate and do whats right for America and get bills passed due to politics.

[caomh]

to the obamanite iris, obama act was not an executive order but a law that has to be followed and has to changed by congress if it is to be stopped. by the iris congress is the branch to pass laws. as for reagan, he signed a law that the demos stated needed to be done to help those already in america and was law biding and that congress would then secure the borders to prevent a lot of immigrants from coming into america anymore. the demos then refused to do so. i think that is called lying. demos are very good at it, even better than repubs.

[favian]

Reagan issued a total of 381 Executive Orders during his presidency. Obama has issued 127. Besides, Reagan got to fire all the air traffic controllers.

[rumford]

Obama is our dictator. Bow before him.

He will next call for the military to disband Congress and call for free and open elections in five years.


Seriously though, I hope Republicans grow a backbone and start challenging this guy's executive decisions. Sadly I fear they won't. They haven't so far.

[dubh35]

No. The "unitary presidency" has gone too far, though. Bush did his share of pushing the "executive order" envelope and Obama is doing all he can to surpass Bush in both quantity and shock-value.

This is EXACTLY the reason I hope we vote OUTSIDE the two parties this time around. If only for the one office of president.
.

Reagan also over-used the Executive order. But in quantity only. His shock-value was minimal as he's about the last president to give a hoot about the Constitution. Not enough of a hoot but a hoot, nonetheless.

[oded]

Obama is a TYRANT!