Being called "Emperor Obama" is a criticism that President Barack Obama will wear "with a badge of honor," according White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, who speculated on the matter of Obama's supposed lawlessness during a daily press briefing Wednesday.
"We will have ample opportunity to discuss the legal basis of the presidents executive actions once he has announced them," said Earnest, Breitbart reported. "We've heard this kind of rhetoric about lawlessness from the House Republicans for some time. I know their most recent statement referred to Emperor Obama. You know, the fact of the matter is the president is somebody who is willing to examine the law, review the law and use very element of that law to make progress for the American people. If that is something that Republicans are critical of, then that's maybe a criticism that the president wears with a badge of honor."
The comments were made by Earnest in response to a statement put out by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman on Wednesday.
"If 'Emperor Obama' ignores the American people and announces an amnesty plan that he himself has said over and over again exceeds his constitutional authority, he will cement his legacy of lawlessness and ruin the chances for congressional action on this issue - and many others," Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel, said in a statement emailed to the reporters, according to Newsweek.
Obama's quickly approaching executive amnesty action has pundits and critics fretting over whether another government shutdown is on the horizon, however many GOP members say that is the last thing they want.
"I would try anything except a shutdown of the government," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told CNN.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., added, "Nobody wants to shut the government down. I don't know anybody on either side of the aisle with rational thoughts would want to shut the government down. So we start with that premise."
One option expected to be thoroughly explored by Republican lawmakers is using the power of the purse to defund immigration-related agencies, only providing enough money for a short time.
Such a move would "give us enough time to come up with a proposal," one anonymous Republican senator told CNN.
