EDITORIAL: Judge Andrew Hanen halt’s Obama’s amnesty express

OPINION:

The temporary injunction issued Monday in Texas, barring the Obama administration from proceeding with the president’s amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, halted the amnesty express. But the order is only an obstacle, and the crucial word here is “temporary.” U.S. Judge Andrew S. Hanen’s order has been appealed by the U.S. Justice Department, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans might very well alter it, tweak it or suspend it. Judge Hanen did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit brought by Texas and supported by 25 other states.

Nevertheless, he effectively applied the brakes, making Mr. Obama squirm, and the government has held up enforcing the amnesty order subject to a higher court ruling.

The most important finding by Judge Hanen, the district judge in Brownsville, Texas, is that the states have standing, or right, to go forward with their lawsuit. He ruled that in addition to having standing, they probably can show that President Obama violated the law, and the states will suffer economic harm if the presidential order is enforced.

The decision put President Obama in his usual pout when he thinks he might not get his way. “I think the law is on our side and history is on our side,” he said. “We’re going to appeal it.” He’s right that history will ultimately speak in its own voice, but the president of the United States has a more important responsibility than speculating about where he may or may not stand when history is redeemed. The president took an oath: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Barack Obama won the presidency by persuading voters that, as he put it, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Among his many designs to make of America a new nation to please radicals was the opening of a wide and open doorway to the nation as it now exists. He thinks the manifest benefits of American prosperity should not be limited to Americans. He dreams of the redistribution of wealth, and he wants to be the bag man. Judge Hanen has put his foot against that door. The illegal immigrants who are the ones the transformers have been waiting for must wait a little longer.

The Department of Homeland Security was to begin processing applications on Wednesday under Deferred Action for Parental Accountability, the executive order he filed in November. The 26 states comprise a majority, though only a minority of the 57 states Mr. Obama once cited in a speech and they argue their states will be done “irreparable harm” by blanket amnesty for the millions of illegals within their borders. Once immigration papers are issued there is small chance they could be recalled. There’s wide speculation that the case, after appeal and counter-appeal, will put the question to the high court for a final determination by early June.

The political implications are obvious. The injunction could tip the scale against the Senate filibuster by Democrats trying to blunt Republican efforts to strip out funds in the budget of the Homeland Security Administration needed to enforce the president’s amnesty. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican, observes that after Judge Hanen’s ruling, Democrats are fighting not only the Republicans, but the federal courts as well.

In ancient times, a Roman conqueror stationed a slave close to him in his chariot during the triumphal march into the prostrate city, to whisper in the conqueror’s ear a warning that vanity accompanies adulation. Though President Obama commands millions of federal employees, there’s none with such a warning to this White House. Mr. Obama may discover that he was wrong about the verdict of history on the transformation of America. History may decide that Lincoln’s exceptional nation was better when it was true to the fundamentals of the law.