17 states sue the federal government, agencies over Obama's immigration plan

On Wednesday, 17 states, including Texas, Idaho, Kansas, and Wisconsin, sued the federal government and the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an attempt to thwart President Obama's executive action on immigration.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. "This lawsuit is not about immigration," state officials said. "It is about the rule of law, presidential power, and the structural limits of the U.S. Constitution."

Texas' Republican attorney general and governor-elect, Greg Abbott, announced the lawsuit in Austin, asserting that the president "is abdicating his responsibility to faithfully enforce laws that were duly enacted by Congress and attempting to rewrite immigration laws, which he has no authority to do." The Obama administration says the president has prosecutorial discretion over which group of immigrants to deport, the Los Angeles Times reports.

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The other states participating in the suit are Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.