Paul Ryan Threatens Suit If Future Pres Trump Tries to Pause Muslim Migration

In a sit-down interview with the anti-Trump publication the Huffington Post, House Speaker Paul Ryan suggested that he might sue President Trump if he were to enact a temporary pause on Muslim migration into the United States. The Huffington Post writes:

In a sit-down interview in his ceremonial Capitol Hill office on Thursday, Ryan told The Huffington Post that Trump does not have "a blank check" with his endorsement… On the topic of Trump's proposed Muslim ban and his statements that he could enact such a policy without Congress, Ryan noted that Republicans were releasing part of their agenda on executive overreach that very day, and, in news that's sure to please Trump, Ryan suggested that he and the House of Representatives were prepared to sue a Republican president if need be.

"I would sue any president that exceeds his or her powers," Ryan said.

It's unclear, however, if Ryan thinks Trump enacting a ban on Muslims entering the country would actually exceed presidential powers. "That's a legal question that there's a good debate about," Ryan said, pointing to the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.

Ryan's declaration is bizarre considering that the Immigration and Nationality Act is clear on this issue. Section 212(f) of the federal law states:

Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate…

As the Daily Caller's Alex Pfeiffer has reported, all of the past six presidents have used the authority this statute provides to block certain classes of immigrants from entering the country. Temple University Law Professor Jan Ting told the Daily Caller that existing law "absolutely and without any doubt" would allow a President Trump to restrict immigration of certain nationalities or religious groups.