John Boehner: Obama’s ‘illicit activity’ caused shutdown standoff

House Speaker John A. Boehner laid the blame on President Obama for the standoff over homeland security funding, saying the president is “running the country right off the cliff.”

“Remember what’s causing this: It’s the president of the United States overreaching, and it’s not just on immigration,” Mr. Boehner said on “Face the Nation” on CBS.

He pointed to the 38 times Mr. Obama unilaterally changed the Obamacare law, though it was Mr. Obama’s action on immigration that led to the showdown for the Department of Homeland Security.

“So the frustration in the country, represented through the frustration of our members, has people scared to death that the president is running the country right off the cliff,” said Mr. Boehner, Ohio Republican.

The president in November announced a plan to unilaterally grant legal status, work permits and Social Security numbers to more than 4 million illegal immigrants. Republicans decried it as unconstitutional and moved to block the program.

House Republicans rebelled Friday against Mr. Boehner’s plan to pass a three-week funding bill to extend the fight and avoid a shutdown of the department that night. Enough GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats to kill the bill in a startling rebuke to Mr. Boehner.

The Senate later sent a one-week funding measure that the House overwhelmingly approved just two hours before a shutdown.

With a new shutdown deadline at the end of the week, House Republicans continued to push Senate Democrats to enter negotiations over a funding bill that includes restrictions on Mr. Obama’s actions.

Senate Democrats have vowed that they will only accept a “clean” bill without anti-amnesty measures. They have accused Republicans of playing politics with national security in the funding standoff.

Still, Mr. Boehner insisted his conference remained united in opposition to funding Mr. Obama’s deportation amnesty.

“We do have some members who disagree from time to time over the tactics that we decide to employ. But remember that Republicans are united in this idea that the president has far exceeded his constitutional authority, and we all want to do things to stop the president from his illicit activity,” he said.