Rep. Pramila Jayapal Pramila JayapalHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Bipartisan representatives demand answers on expired surveillance programs DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility MORE (D-Wash.) tore into President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden says voters should choose who nominates Supreme Court justice Trump, Biden will not shake hands at first debate due to COVID-19 Pelosi: Trump Supreme Court pick 'threatens' Affordable Care Act MORE over his stated intention to end birthright citizenship.

After Trump said in an interview with Axios that he intends to sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship, Jayapal released a statement saying the president doesn't have that power and he should “take a high school government class.”

“President Trump should take a high school government class before so confidently claiming he can eliminate the 14th Amendment through executive action,” Jayapal said. “Constitutional scholars and even members of his own party agree — this simply isn’t possible.”

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“This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to fan the flames of anti-immigrant rhetoric, sow division and distract voters from this administration’s very real infringements against working families,” she added.

The president said in an interview released Tuesday morning that he intends to sign an executive order ending the right to citizenship for children born in the U.S. to noncitizens. Such an order would lead to significant legal debate over the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized“ in the U.S.

"It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don't," Trump said. "You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they're saying I can do it just with an executive order."

The suggestion has been met with significant backlash, including from some members of Trump’s own party who have said that birthright citizenship cannot be ended with an executive order and would require a constitutional amendment.

“Well, you obviously cannot do that,” GOP Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 At indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates MORE said.

Jayapal, a member of the House Judiciary Committee and an immigrant herself, vowed in her statement to “fight tooth and nail” against any efforts by the administration or GOP to “encroach on basic citizenship rights legislatively.”

“Our country’s fabric is stronger because of the protections provided in the 14th Amendment,” she said. “These efforts are nothing more than attempts to harm children who are just as American as any other child born in the United States of America.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamHarris slams Trump's Supreme Court pick as an attempt to 'destroy the Affordable Care Act' Sunday shows preview: Lawmakers prepare for SCOTUS confirmation hearings before election Confirmation hearing for Trump's Supreme Court pick to start Oct. 12 MORE (R-S.C.) on Tuesday said that he will introduce legislation to end birthright citizenship after Trump's suggestion.