U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, warned of the consequences of using potential executive action on immigration reform during his first press conference since Republicans regained control of the Congress.

According to Boehner, President Barack Obama should refrain from issuing an executive action on immigration, stating, "When you play with matches you take the risk of burning yourself, and he's (Obama) going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path."

As Latin Post reported, Obama reaffirmed his commitment to issue an executive action regarding immigration reform since Congress failed to pass legislation for him to sign.

"You send me a bill that I can sign, and those executive actions go away," said Obama on Wednesday. "That's a commitment I made not just to the American people -- and to businesses and the evangelical community and the law enforcement folks and everybody who's looked at this issue and thinks that we need immigration reform -- that's a commitment that I also made to John Boehner, that I would act in the absence of action by Congress."

Boehner claimed an executive action by the president would "poison the well." The Ohio representative added, "I've made clear to the president that if he acts unilaterally on his own outside of his authority, he will poison the well and there will be no chance for immigration reform moving in this Congress."

Obama and Boehner have said they'll find a compromise on legislation including immigration reform. Boehner, during his press conference on Thursday, reiterated the need for Congress to work on immigration legislation. As Real Clear Politics noted, Boehner did not specify on how the House of Representatives will handle immigration reform. The Senate had passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill in June 2013. Titled "S.744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act," the Senate immigration bill was also co-sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The House of Representatives has yet to pick up the bill for a debate and vote.

"Finding common ground is going to be hard work -- but it will be even harder if the president isn't willing to work with us," said Boehner.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the senate minority leader who's expected to be elected senate majority leader following the GOP's majority in the Senate, also warned against Obama's immigration reform executive action.

Referring the immigration executive action as a "big mistake," McConnell added, "It's like waving a red flag in front of a bull to say, 'If you guys don't do what I want, I'm going to do it on my own.' The president's done that on Obamacare, he's done it on immigration, and he's threatening to do it again."

Boehner and McConnell are scheduled to meet with Obama at the White House with the Democratic Party leaders Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California on Friday. The White House meeting will include how congressional lawmakers will manage the lame duck session ahead of the new Republican-controlled 114th Congress set to start on Jan. 3, 2015.

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

Related