CBS Host Schieffer Wonders How Sens. McCain and Graham Deal With GOP During Immigration Crisis
CBS Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer attempted to create controversy within the Republican Party over the subject of immigration reform during a joint interview with Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) on Sunday, July 6.
Schieffer lamented that an immigration bill hadn’t passed Congress and asked his Republican guests “how do you feel about being members of a body that won't act and a party on a crisis like this?”
The segment began with Schieffer appearing shocked that some in the GOP are “saying let's call up the National Guard to reinforce the border” before playing up the supposed divide in the Republican Party on the issue:
But the Congress won't do anything. The Congress has said they're not going to do anything about this. I would just like to ask both of you, how do you feel about being members of a body that won't act and a party on a crisis like this?
For their part, both Senators Graham and McCain refused to take the CBS host’s bait and used the opportunity to criticize President Obama’s failure to enforce current immigration law. Graham insisted that “there is a plan in place to control out border but it won't happen until the president signs the law. If the president does this by himself, if he goes it alone, he's going to make it so much harder. This is the administration designed ObamaCare.”
McCain reiterated that the divide between Congress and President Obama is much wider than among Republicans over immigration:
It makes it really hard to deal with a president who at every turn takes a law he doesn’t like and unilaterally changes it from the IRS to ObamaCare. It has a cumulative affect so there are people in the Republican Party who get it. But the president is making it very hard for us those who do get it to work with him because he's unilaterally changed every law he doesn’t like and now he’s putting immigration on the list.
Throughout the interview, Schieffer continued to peddle the liberal media line that the GOP was the biggest obstacle to solving our immigration crisis and failed to even consider that President Obama’s failure to follow current border laws has contributed to the ongoing border crisis.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS's Face the Nation
July 6, 2014
BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, I know both of you are for immigration reform, some in your party are saying let's call up the National Guard to reinforce the border.
LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, we've had National Guard troops on the border. The bill in the Senate doubled the size of the border patrol. The 40,000, there would be a border patrol agent every thousand feet. The Senate bill puts sensors and technology in place we use in Iraq and Afghanistan. We can control our border. That's essential. In the bill, 90% operational control was required before anybody could move forward toward citizenship there. There is a plan in place to control out border but it won't happen until the president signs the law. If the president does this by himself, if he goes it alone, he's going to make it so much harder. This is the administration designed ObamaCare.
SCHIEFFER: But the Congress won't do anything. The Congress has said they're not going to do anything about this. I would just like to ask both of you, how do you feel about being members of a body that won't act and a party on a crisis like this?
JOHN MCCAIN: We’ll just continue the fight. We'll continue the effort, respectful effort to convince our colleagues in the House that we need to move forward on this issue. But it doesn't help when the president says that he's going to -- he has a pen and he has a phone. But we'll continue to make that effort on the grounds of security of our border as well as the fact that you cannot deport 11 million people. We need to address the issue.
GRAHAM: Bob, there is a change in our party. I don't see how you could effectively win the presidency in 2016 if you adopt self deportation as the Republican view toward immigration. Ted Cruz embraces legalization without a path to citizenship. Things are changing on our side. It makes it really hard to deal with a president who at every turn takes a law he doesn’t like and unilaterally changes it from the IRS to ObamaCare. It has a cumulative affect so there are people in the Republican Party who get it. But the president is making it very hard for us those who do get it to work with him because he's unilaterally changed every law he doesn’t like and now he’s putting immigration on the list.
— Jeffrey Meyer is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Jeffrey Meyer on Twitter.
