(CNN) Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf responded to Republican threats of legal action for her sanctuary city policies, saying she will not let them intimidate her into no longer protecting undocumented immigrants.

"I'm not going to let the bullies in Washington, DC, deter me from doing what I know is right for my community. In Oakland, we're very clear about what our values are. We value our immigrant communities. We value diversity. And we will not allow anyone to intimidate us. We will not apologize for those values," Schaaf said Monday on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" in her first national interview.

The statement is in response to Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa introducing the "Mayor Libby Schaaf Act of 2018," a bill that would "target state and local officials in Sanctuary Cities who act to obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to enforce federal immigration laws."

"I want lawless, Sanctuary City politicians to hear this message clearly: if you obstruct ICE, you are going to end up in the cooler," King said in a statement.

President Donald Trump has also gone after Schaaf, urging Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate her for obstruction of justice.

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