Ted Cruz joins Texas lawmakers to target Obama immigration order

Sen. Ted Cruz Sen. Ted Cruz Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Ted Cruz joins Texas lawmakers to target Obama immigration order 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

While Texas spearheads a lawsuit to halt the Obama administration's executive action on immigration, several Texas lawmakers in Congress are launching their own efforts to block the president's plans to grant legal status to as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz introduced a bill Tuesday that would bar the Department of Homeland Security from using immigration fees to fund the program. The senator's bill -- dubbed the Immigration Slush Fund Elimination Act -- would reserve the authority of Congress to fund the agency.

"The federal government should not be in the business of looting the wallets of those who followed the law and came here legally to fund the President's illegal and unconstitutional amnesty," Cruz said.

Cruz noted that the DHS's agency for issuing work permits generates over $1 billion in fees. Currently, plans are to spend $7.8 million for an 11-story building near Washington D.C. for a processing center.

That's where Republican Reps. Brian Babin of Woodville and John Ratcliffe of Heath come in. The same day Cruz introduced his bill, the two Texas congressmen pushed their "No Office Space for Executive Amnesty Act," which would shut down the project.

"This legislation will ensure taxpayer funds can no longer be wasted on renting expensive office space for government bureaucrats to carry out the President's illegal executive amnesty actions," Babin said.

The proposals come almost a year after President Barack Obama's controversial executive order, which conservatives call an illegal amnesty. In late May, a federal appeals court upheld an injunction filed in Texas that would keep the initiative on hold.