Greg Sargent found a conservative GOP attorney general who says the President is fully within his authority to do this.
A number of Republican officials and conservatives have responded to Obama’s immigration announcement by attacking it on process grounds, arguing that the decision to circumvent Congress was an abuse of power, an affront to democracy, and even unconstitutional — and could encourage further lawbreaking.
But in an interview with me just now, Mark Shurtleff, Utah’s conservative Republican attorney general, dismissed those objections, arguing the move was perfectly within Obama’s powers, good law enforcement policy, and even a “conservative” solution.
“This is clearly within the president’s power,” Shurtleff said. “I was pleased when the president announced it.”
