Sen. Ted Cruz: Pres. Obama Is Usurping Congressional Power, and Dems Are Applauding It

President Obama is amassing unchecked power and setting a dangerous precedent for future leaders, warned Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday’s Secure Freedom Radio.

Senator Cruz pointed to a signing statement made by President Obama on Good Friday as the most recent example of the Commander in Chief taking US law as mere suggestion. The statement in question was on a law, voted for unanimously in the US Senate and House of Representatives, barring foreign terrorists from serving as diplomats within the US. It came as a result of Iran’s decision to appoint Hamid Aboutalebi as its Ambassador to the UN.

“One of the most dismaying aspects of the Obama Administration has been that this president seems to regard all legislation as advisory. He said so explicitly here that the legislation was now written in the law books as part of US code, but if he so desired he might ignore it some time in the future,” said Cruz.

Cruz referenced immigration, marriage, welfare, and healthcare as other areas in which Obama has played it fast and loose with the law. But just as concerning as Obama’s behavior, Cruz emphasized, is the acceptance Democrats have for it.

“A couple of months ago, when sitting on the floor of the House of Representatives during the State of the Union, I was stunned when President Obama said, ‘If Congress doesn’t act, I will,’ and just about every Democratic member of Congress leapt to his or her feet, cheering,” recalled Cruz. “It was truly something out of the Twilight Zone, to see one branch of the government cheering the other usurping its constitutional authority.”

Senator Cruz argued that Obama’s abuse of authority could be easily stopped if Congress was not “unwilling to stand up for principles of liberty and the Constitution.”

He made sure to stress that all is not doom and gloom in government, however.

“I think it is terrific, even in a time when Congress is so often mired in partisan gridlock, to see both Congress and the President come together. Indeed, I’ve publicly praised President Obama for signing the legislation, for the United States as a whole speaking with one voice. That number one, we will not allow acknowledged terrorists into this country. And number two, we will not accept deliberate provocations and insults from the nation of Iran.”