Senator Mike Lee just blocked the unanimous consent request by Jeff Flake to vote on the Mueller protection bill in the Senate which would prevent Mueller from being fired by the acting Attorney General, or prevent interference from the White House. Lee objected based on a constitutional separation of powers:

Watch:

(It’s cued up to 1:34)

Here’s more from NBC:

Senate Republicans blocked a vote on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday, despite a threat from a GOP Senator to hold up judicial nominees until action is taken on the measure.

Critics of President Donald Trump in both parties have for months advocated for legislation to safeguard Mueller and his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, but the effort gained renewed momentum earlier this month when Trump fired former attorney general Jeff Sessions and replaced him with Matthew Whitaker, a controversial loyalist who has criticized the Russia probe before joining the administration.

Advocates’ hopes were raised briefly when the second-ranking Senate Republican, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, said in an interview that the chamber might take up the bill this week after all.

But those hopes were dashed Wednesday afternoon when Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, objected to a request for unanimous consent to proceed to a full vote on the bill.

Lee made the constitutional case in his objection, citing the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to argue that the president has rightful control of the Department of Justice and that insulating the special counsel from White House oversight would essentially amount to “creating a fourth branch of government.”