The Democrat plan to give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in the U.S. can be thwarted, despite apparent wavering by House Republican leadership, contends a Texas congressman.

In an interview with Michael Savage on his "Savage Nation" nationally syndicated show Friday, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, insisted, furthermore, that if President Obama tries to advance amnesty or any other initiative through illegal executive orders, he can be stopped, because the House holds the purse strings and can cut off funding for actions that can't be justified legally.

"The power of the purse is the secret to this guy – the most illegal, unlawful president in American history," said Culberson, who had just returned from a GOP retreat in Cambridge, Md., where House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, distributed a two-page list of broad principles on immigration.

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Seven months after the Senate passed a bipartisan bill with a "path to citizenship," House Republican leaders Thursday said for the first time they would be open to allowing illegal aliens to live and work legally in the U.S. but would not offer a "special path" to citizenship.

That step in the direction of the Senate plan has many border-security-first advocates, including Savage, worried.

But Culberson emphasized that Boehner told his Republican colleagues in the House that he wouldn't allow a bill go to the floor unless a majority of the Republican-controlled House is in favor.

Boehner, according to Culberson, told Republican House members that the outline they were handed, which was issued to the press, was simply for discussion purposes.

Savage pointed out that along with Boehner, Republican House leaders support giving legal status to illegals, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan.

But Culberson insisted there is hope if citizens contact their representatives and express their opposition to amnesty.

Culberson explained that a majority of the House Republican majority is "very conservative," committed to the Constitution, free markets and limited government – "get the government out of our lives and leave us the heck alone."

He told Savage that if "a majority of the majority says, 'No way, we are not going to support amnesty. Let's enforce the law, first things first,' the speaker will not allow it to come to the floor."

Culberson said an overwhelming majority of the members who spoke at the House GOP retreat said "we need to enforce the law first."

The House Republicans who spoke up also pointed out that Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested the compromise in Boehner's "guidelines."

"Do you think they are doing this for our benefit?" Culberson asked rhetorically.

The majority of House Republicans oppose the compromise, he emphasized.

"First of all, it's a bad idea to reward people who broke the law," he said.

It's also unnecessary.

"The country doesn't want it. The Hispanic community doesn't want it. The Hispanic community wants law and order, safe streets and good schools and a good economy and good jobs like everyone else. It isn’t complicated," said Culberson.

The congressman sees the bid for amnesty as a power play by Democrats.

"The Founders created our federal government to protect our freedom," he said.

Democrats, on the other hand, want to "convert the government into a wealth-redistribution machine to elect Democrats."

They want "amnesty and citizenship for people who have come here illegally from countries where the education level is lower; they're used to a centralized government that provides them everything."

"The Democrats want them turned into voters," he said.

Power of purse strings

Culberson, a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, said he has put language in this year's appropriation bill stipulating that if Obama signs an illegal executive order, it will not be funded unless the president or Attorney General Eric Holder can show explicitly the legal authority for the action.

"If Obama doesn't follow the law, he doesn't get any money. The agency that breaks the law doesn't get paid," said Culberson, who noted the House appropriations committee controls the annual spending of the federal government.

"If you stand on their air hose and cut off the money, you've got 100 percent of their attention," he said.

He urged citizens to contact their representative to express opposition to amnesty and encourage them to cut off "money for Obama's illegal orders" and to "zero out his czars."

Savage said to Culberson: "You've just given a lot of people hope. You've given them a plan of action. They feel powerless. They feel they have no representation anywhere in America anymore."