Immigration Reform News 2015: Boehner to Let D.H.S. Funding Run Out? Says Democrats Are 'Standing in the Way'

Republican House Speaker John Boehner blamed Democrats for the impending shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, saying they're "standing in the way" of the funding bill that is hanging in the Senate.

"The House has done its job under the Constitution," he told Fox News on Sunday. "It's time for the Senate to do their job. Senate Democrats are standing in the way. They're the ones jeopardizing the funding."

Senate Democrats have been blocking the D.H.S. funding bill to proceed, insisting that it should be a clean bill without the provisions in the House version that cut funding to President Obama's immigration executive actions.

Asked what would happen when homeland security funding runs out, Boehner replied, "Well, then, Senate Democrats should be to blame."

Boehner said he is willing to let the D.H.S. run out of funds, saying "we've done our job."

He said the bill that the House passed is aimed at funding the D.H.S. and at the same time, "to stop the President's overreach when it comes to immigration and his executive orders."

Boehner claimed that President Obama had "said 22 times that he did not have the authority to do what he eventually did."

"Congress can't just sit by and let the President defy the Constitution and defy his own oath of office," he said. "So the House acted. Now it's time for the Senate to act."

Fox News quoted Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as saying that since "we can't go forward in the Senate. The next move, obviously, is up to the House."

Boehner said the Senate Democrats "are blocking the ability to even debate the bill," adding that McConnell even offered them amendments to the bill.

"It's their (Senate Democrats) turn. That's how the system works," he said, adding: "If the Senate doesn't like it, they'll have to produce something."