Tony Cardenas: Obama finally said, ‘enough is enough’

Rep. Tony Cardenas, California Democrat, said Friday that President Obama’s executive action to grant temporary legal status to millions of illegal immigrants isn’t about what Congress didn’t do, but about what Congress has refused to do.

Mr. Cardenas pointed out that 68 senators voted in a “tripartisan” manner — because there were two supportive independents — to pass a broad bill in 2013 granting most illegal immigrants in the country an eventual pathway to citizenship.

“Now it’s been sitting in our House, Republican-controlled House, for over 500 days,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “So I think what happened is the president finally said, ’Enough is enough. We need to take care of our economy. We need to take care of business.’ “

“It’s not about the president doing anything that Congress didn’t do, it’s about the president doing something to help our economy forward that Congress refuses to do,” Mr. Cardenas continued.

He also said he’d “love” for Republicans supportive of the Senate bill to take credit for it.

“The 14 Republican senators should take credit — they helped pass [a] bill,” Mr. Cardenas said.

But the politics of immigration are complicated for the GOP. Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican and a member of the so-called “Gang of Eight” that crafted the bill, has moved to distance himself from the measure after conservatives objected to it.

National Republicans, particularly in the wake of the 2012 presidential election, have said the GOP needs to make more durable inroads with Latino voters if they hope to have long-term electoral success.

But contenders for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination are likely to face questions about whether they would seek to reverse Mr. Obama’s executive action should Congress not pass legislation on the issue, with anything but a definitive “yes” potentially alienating hardline conservative voters who comprise much of the electorate in GOP primaries.