"Last year, in a similar case involving presidential power, the justices split 4 to 4 and could not decide whether a Texas judge had wrongly blocked an executive action by President Obama that would have given temporary relief from deportation and work permits to more than 4 million immigrants living illegally in the country.
Lawyers for Texas claimed that allowing those immigrants to stay and work would result in costs and real harm to the state. On that basis, a federal judge handed down a nationwide order blocking Obama’s plan from taking effect, similar to the nationwide restraining order now blocking Trump’s ban.
Obama’s lawyers challenged Texas’ standing, emphasizing the president’s customary power over immigration. But in that case, it appeared the four more conservative justices were concerned the president had exceeded his authority while the liberals took the opposite position. As a result of the tie vote, a lower court ruling that blocked Obama’s program remained in effect.
Now, the court may be confronted with similar questions but with the roles reversed: a liberal state challenging the actions of a Republican president."
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-travel-ban-legal-analysis-20170206-story.html |
