This was published on this day in 2015—the House GOP had threatened to use the power of the purse to defund Obama's unconstitutional DACA order...and then didn't.

GOP 101: 1. Take strong stand, enraging opponents. 2. Have shutdown-like crisis, enraging independents. 3. Cave, enraging supporters.

— Jim Antle (@jimantle) March 3, 2015

It would have been better if the Republican Party hadn't done anything.

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) announced that the House will vote on a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill, which marks the conclusion of the Republican attempt to block funding for President Obama’s executive amnesty orders.

In the words of one House Republican, Boehner told the Republican conference that the “full cave” will get a vote on Tuesday.

[Boehner: Pass Clean DHS Bill Today, by Joel Gehrke, National Review Online, March 3, 2015]

Kevin McCarthy, of all people, tells us how it could have been different.

In Tuesday morning’s conference meeting, House majority leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) reiterated his belief that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) should have used the nuclear option to eliminate the filibuster in response to the Democratic votes to block debate on the House-passed DHS bill.

Why not?  After all, Harry Reid already set the precedent when he was Senate Majority Leader back in 2013 in order to push through Obama's judicial nominations [Reid, Democrats trigger 'nuclear' option; eliminate most filibusters on nominees, by Paul Kane, Washington Post, November 21, 2013].

The fight right now, after all, is not about Amnesty or even immigration.  It's about whether the President has the right to use powers that he himself has repeatedly admitted he does not have.   Even the most milquetoast supporter of "limited government" has to note the distinction.  Even Judge Andrew Napolitano, an overt supporter of open borders, says that Obama's actions are wildly illegal and Congress has the responsibility to stop the violation of the law.

So if the GOP can't even stop this, what good are they?  Seriously, what is the point of the Republican Party?  Or for that matter, Congress as an institution?