The Obama administration's immigration move has been declared null and void by House Republicans on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.
The House measure, approved on a 219-197 vote, is the first step in a two-part plan devised by GOP leadership to provide an outlet for Republican frustration over the White House plan while also preventing the issue from provoking another government funding crisis.
Ohio House Speaker John A. Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky claim they want to avoid a repeat of a similar crisis, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The House bill is called Executive Amnesty Prevention Act and it says that any attempt by the administration to exempt immigrants from deportation laws "shall be null and void and without legal effect."
On Thursday, Boehner said the proposal makes it clear that House Republicans "are rejecting [Obama's] unilateral actions," according to the Times.
"To do anything less would be an act of monumental arrogance," Boehner said. "The American people elected us to heed their will and not to bow to the whims of a White House that regards the legislative process established by the Constitution as little more than a nuisance."
The bill is widely supported by White House officials who state the president's executive action in this case is both legal and necessary.
