Boehner blasts Obama’s ‘flippant dismissal’ of Constitution in op-ed

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) writes in a new op-ed that he doesn’t take legal action against President Obama lightly, adding that Obama’s “flippant dismissal” of the Constitution is “utterly beneath the dignity of the office.”

“Every member of Congress swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So did President Barack Obama,” Boehner writes in the op-ed, published by CNN on Sunday.

“But too often over the past five years, the President has circumvented the American people and their elected representatives through executive action, changing and creating his own laws, and excusing himself from enforcing statutes he is sworn to uphold — at times even boasting about his willingness to do it, as if daring the American people to stop him,” he adds.

{mosads}Boehner writes that he will bring legislation to the floor later this month that would “authorize the House of Representatives to file suit in an effort to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country.”

Obama last Tuesday defended his use of executive actions and dared critics to stop him.

“Middle-class families can’t wait for Republicans in Congress to do stuff,” Obama said defiantly during a speech in Washington. “So sue me.

“As long as they do nothing, I’m not going to apologize for doing something,” the president continued.

Boehner writes that he knows Obama is frustrated, adding that he’s frustrated and the American people are frustrated too.

“After years of slow economic growth and high unemployment under President Obama, they are still asking, ‘where are the jobs?’ The House has passed more than 40 jobs bills that would help. But Washington Democrats, led by the President, just ignore them,” he writes.

Boehner writes in the op-ed that Obama’s “flippant dismissal of the Constitution we are both sworn to defend” is disappointing and “utterly beneath the dignity of the office.”

“The legislative branch has an obligation to defend the rights and responsibilities of the American people, and America’s constitutional balance of powers — before it is too late,” the Speaker concludes.

–Keith Laing contributed to this report.