Retiring Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn has issued a stark warning about the fallout from President Obama’s immigration plan.
“The country’s going to go nuts, because they’re going to see it as a move outside of the authority of the president, and it’s going to be a very dangerous situation,” Coburn said on USA Today’s Capital Download program. “You’re going to see — hopefully not — but you could see instances of anarchy. … You could see violence.”
When asked to explain further, Coburn — who had a working relationship and bond with Obama during the president’s Senate tenure — said that it comes down to a double-standard: “Here’s how people think: Well, if the law doesn’t apply to the president … then why should it apply to me?”
The always candid conservative said that the incoming Congress, set to convene in January, ought to have a chance to act on immigration reform instead of being overrun by the president. Instead, the rule of law is being replaced by the “rule of rulers,” which is the “total antithesis of what this country was founded on,” Coburn said.
“I think it’s a very dangerous move for us, both in terms of civil disobedience … [and] in terms of confidence and the future of country, and to be able to accomplish other things that will need to be accomplished over the next two years.”
Obama’s executive action on immigration could defer deportation of as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants, according to reports leading up to the president’s announcement in a Thursday primetime address. He is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. ET.
