Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/614502
ByKathleenHennessey The Associated Press WASHINGTON While the White House has con- demned Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslim im- migrants as "disqualifying" and"toxic,"PresidentBarack Obama may have only him- self to blame if a President Trump ever succeeds in put- ting his plan, or some ver- sion of it, into action. In his efforts to work around Congress, Obama has made the aggressive use of executive power, particularly on immigra- tion, an increasingly effec- tive and politically accepted presidential tool. While le- gal scholars are divided on whether Obama has accel- erated or merely continued a drift of power toward the executive branch, there's lit- tle debate that he's paved a path for his successor. Depending on who that is, many Obama back- ers could rue the day they cheered his "pen-and- phone" campaign to get past Republican opposi- tion in Congress. The uni- lateral steps he took to raise environmental standards, tighten gun control mea- sures and ease the threat of deportation for millions of immigrants in the U.S. il- legally, may serve as prece- dent for moves they won't cheer. "Democrats have been remarkably shortsighted in embracing of this type of uber-presidency," said Jonathon Turley, a George Washington University law professor. Although Tur- ley represents House Re- publicans in a challenge to Obama's health care law, he says he agrees with the pol- icies Obama has enacted in some other actions. "Unfortunately I think the bill will come due for many Democrats," Turley said. "In a future adminis- tration, they will hear the same arguments played back to them as they watch a different president go after a different set of priorities." Peter Spiro, an expert on immigration and constitu- tional law at Temple Univer- sity, doesn't believe Obama has overstepped his con- stitutional bounds. But he does think he's given future presidents political cover, particularly in the area of immigration. "The next president would say, 'Well, look, Pres- ident Obama was a strong defender of this and I'm just following in his footsteps,'" he said. To be sure, the verdict is still out on how much Obama's presidency may have tipped the scales in the balance of powers between the courts, the executive and Congress. Some court challenges are undecided, most notably one contest- ing his second major im- migration action granting temporary reprieve to mil- lions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Mean- while, the White House has yet to decide whether to go ahead on two sig- nificant executive actions prompted by opposition in Congress — one that would expand background checks on gun sales and another that would close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and move detainees to U.S. soil. How such actions, partic- ularly the latter, would play out in the courts and court of public opinion would be important factors in how Obama's record is judged by history and his successor. Experts view Obama's influence as considerable when it comes to war pow- ers, particularly his case for killing American sus- pects of terrorism on for- eign soil. But a paradox is evident on immigration is- sues — where he has very publicly seized the broad authority given to the exec- utive and where the gap be- tween his policies and his potential Republican suc- cessors is wide. In 2012 and 2014, after long maintaining he did not have such authority, Obama ordered federal immigra- tion authorities not to de- port certain groups of im- migrants living in the U.S. illegally. The administra- tion asked immigrants to apply for a temporary new legal status. The White House said it was using its prosecutorial discretion — the power to determine how limited resources should be used to enforce the law. That power has been used by all presidents on a broad range of issues, but rarely has a president called a news conference to an- nounce it or created a for- mal system to use it, said Hiroshi Motomura, a Uni- versity of California at Los Angeles professor and ex- pert in immigration law. "Every president has dif- ferent priorities, but Obama has actually changed things by being more systematized and transparent and that's what led to critics and the legal challenge," Motomura said. A future president might take the same principle into another arena, Turley ar- gued, choosing not to en- force pollution regulation against some businesses or temporarily granting some taxpayers a reprieve. If not a full ban on Mus- lim visitors, as Trump pro- posed, prosecutorial discre- tion might be used to argue for prioritizing deportation of Muslim immigrants. A president might place visi- tors from Muslim countries under special screening or ask them to register, moves that would have some re- cent precedent. Whether such executive moves would survive a law- suit is far from clear. In the wake of Trump's proposed ban, many legal scholars lambasted the idea but didn't label it impossible. Congress already has granted broad authority for the president to bar "any class of aliens" entry into the United States if he de- termines it would be "det- rimental to the interests of the United States." PRESIDENCY Obama'sexecutiveactionscouldopenadoorforsuccessors By Josef Federman The Associated Press JERUSALEM GOP presi- dential front-runner Donald TrumpcanceledplansThurs- day to visit Israel, a trip for which even Prime Minis- ter Benjamin Netanyahu — widely seen as an ally of the Republican Party — had shown little enthusiasm. Trump announced his decision on Twitter, say- ing he would reschedule "at a later date after I be- come President of the U.S." Appearing on Fox News, he said there were many rea- sons for the move, among them that he didn't want to put Netanyahu in a bind. "In fact, I did a campaign ad for him, and he's a good man, but I didn't want to put him under pressure," Trump said. "I also did it because I'm in the midst of a powerful campaign that's going very well." Trump, who has main- tained a wide lead in most early preference polling, unleashed an uproar this week when he called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. The bil- lionaire businessman has cast the idea as a prudent step in the wake of the mass shooting by an Islamic mil- itant couple of 14 people in San Bernardino, California, while critics call it both rac- ist and unconstitutional. Trump also drew criti- cism from some American Jews for his comments last week to a gathering of Jew- ish donors. He was booed after refusing to endorse Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel — a key Is- raeli position. Some of his other comments were seen by some as promoting Jew- ish stereotypes. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a brief- ing that "most people are relieved that he's reconsid- ered" the visit to Israel. "The situation in Israel is particularly volatile, and so I think in this case, his decision to reconsider that trip is a good outcome for all of those involved," Ear- nest added. From the day he launched his candidacy, Trump's cam- paign has been driven by one controversy after the next. There was his asser- tion that that Mexican gov- ernmentwassendingitsrap- ists and criminals across the border; his statement that Sen. John McCain wasn't a war hero because he was captured; his feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly; a series of factually inaccu- rate remarks; and the time he called Iowa voters stupid. Each time, Trump's com- ments have drawn fury from his opponents and prompted pundits to pre- dict his pending demise. But each time, Trump has emerged unscathed. It remains unclear whether his proposal on Muslim immigration will have any long-lasting im- pact on his campaign. But overseas, the Israel trip is just one of many casualties. A visit to Israel is con- sidered a rite of passage for U.S. presidential candi- dates, and Netanyahu has hosted scores of candidates and elected American offi- cials over the years. In an interview last week, Trump said of po- tentially brokering a peace deal in the Middle East, "If you can make that deal, you can make any deal. It's probably the toughest deal to make." PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Trump cancels Israel visit a er uproar over inflammatory comments SUSANWALSH—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS President Barack Obama has used his executive power to get past Republican opposition. 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