When President Obama and a cadre of special interests tried to force his immigration bill through the Congress, they spoke out clearly—and stopped it. Voters sent home many of the lawmakers who voted to support that agenda.

But, once again, President Obama met with those same immigration lobbyists to craft executive decrees accomplishing by fiat what was denied by the constitutional, legislative process.

The President himself acknowledged many times his planned action is illegal. Many Senate Democrats even campaigned against the President’s executive amnesty. But now they are lining up in unison to protect their party, and the interest groups they rely upon, rather than the constituents they represent. We took an oath to defend the Constitution, not a political party.

With this vote, Senate Democrats are supporting presidential actions that strip American workers of their lawful protections. The President’s unlawful amnesty provides work permits, Medicare, Social Security, and free tax credits to 5 million people illegally present in the United States—taking jobs and benefits directly from struggling Americans. A vote against cloture is a vote to promote all of these policies.

Today’s vote, however, is only the very beginning of the effort to reverse the President’s action. This is day one. What is needed now is a sustained, organized, unified Republican effort to rally the nation against an imperial edict erasing our immigration laws. Such an effort would ultimately succeed. The position of the Democrat Caucus is untenable, insupportable, and unsustainable.

For decades, the American people have begged and pleaded for a lawful system of immigration that puts their needs first. They are worried, justly, about the impact of uncontrolled immigration on their jobs, wages, schools, hospitals, and communities. Politicians can only ignore those demands for so long before the dam breaks.”