On Tuesday, U.S. Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne said he does not support Barack Obama's plan, revealed in the president's speech yesterday, to take executive action on immigration reform.

"President Obama just doesn't seem to get it," Byrne, R-Fairhope, said in a prepared statement according to AL.com. "Our founders clearly reserved the power to establish immigration laws to Congress, not the president. I am not even convinced the president actually wants immigration reform, but rather an issue to use on the campaign trail."

On Monday, Obama said he will use his power to fix as much of our immigration system as I can, on my own, without Congress" by the summer's end. This would go around the problem of the House of Representatives, whose dominating Republicans have refused to pass an immigration reform bill passed by the Senate five years ago.

"The failure of House Republicans to pass a darn bill is bad for our security, bad for our economy, and it's bad for our future," Obama said yesterday. "Drop the excuses."

According to Byrne, however, Obama's plans undermine the power of Congress.

"If President Obama was serious, he would start by enforcing the laws currently in place and work to build trust with those of us in the House," the representative said. "The president's refusal to enforce current law and unilateral actions to the contrary, make any discussion about reform nearly impossible"

The representative also argues that Obama's plan is not realistic because he does not have the power to single-handedly change immigration law.

"If unilateral action was possible, don't you think House Republicans would have repealed ObamacCare, replaced the harmful sequestration defense cuts, and halted the Environmental Protection Agency's war on coal?" Byrne said.

Byrne plans on fighting against Obama's executive orders.

"Our nation was founded on clearly defined powers outlined in the Constitution, and I will continue to stand up against efforts which erode that separation of powers," he explained.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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