Texas Gov.-elect Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that his state is teaming up with 16 others to sue the federal government over President Obama's recent action on immigration.
The lawsuit asks a south Texas U.S. District Court to declare the president's deferred action programs illegal, arguing that Obama overstepped the bounds of his authority. "This lawsuit is not about immigration," reads the official complaint. "It is about the rule of law, presidential power, and the structural limits of the U.S. Constitution."
The 17 plaintiffs allege that Obama violated the Take Care Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which compels the president to "faithfully execute" Congress' laws. They also claim that the actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires rules made by federal agencies to go through "notice-and-comment rulemaking."
Throughout the lawsuit, the plaintiffs use the president's own words against him. The complaint notes that Obama, pressing Congress to pass the Dream Act in 2010, repeatedly said he could not achieve its goals on its own. It quotes him saying, "I am president, I am not king. I can't do these things just by myself. ... I can't just make the laws up by myself."