Hasta La Gadget!

WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that Congress should take legal action against President Barack Obama in response to his planned executive action on immigration.

“We should take him to court,” Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill. “Truman was taken to court in Youngstown Steel, and I think we should take him to court.”

“Our founders were very clear … [in] the constitution that the Congress writes the law,” he added. “The president himself has admitted as many as 15 times, saying he’s not a king, he’s not an emperor and he can’t write the law. So really the media needs to be asking him why he’s changed his mind now.”

Paul appeared to rule out the threat of a government shutdown when asked if Republicans should use funding for the government as a mechanism to stymie Obama’s action.

“We don’t have much power right now … in January we will,” he said.

Paul also argued in favor of a lawsuit during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Tuesday.

“I think with regard to immigration reform he’s doing something that Congress has not instructed him to do, and in fact has instructed him otherwise,” he said. “So I think the Supreme Court would strike it down … that takes a while, but that may be the only recourse short of a new president.”

While Republican leaders in Congress have yet to publicly discuss a potential lawsuit, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said Wednesday that Obama’s executive action is “illegal” and will face legal recourse.

“I think there’ll be lawsuits filed, I believe so,” Portman said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

House Republicans are already in the midst of suing Obama for delaying the implementation of the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act. A House GOP leadership aide would not say if Boehner is also weighing a challenge to Obama over immigration, but acknowledged that several members have suggested such a response.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told reporters Wednesday that he would support the idea, but doesn’t believe Congress would have standing to do so.

“We don’t have standing,” McCain said. “We have to find somebody with standing to claim suit. But yeah, I’d love to challenge it in the court.”

Obama will to announce his executive action on Thursday, which according to early reports will provide relief and work authorization to the undocumented parents of U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident children. It is also expected to include changes to high-skilled worker visas and immigration enforcement programs, as well a border security component. To argue that Obama’s action is within the law, the White House has cited prosecutorial discretion — which allows law enforcement to prosecute some and not others due to insufficient resources.