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SALT LAKE CITY — Mitt Romney and Utah Sen. Mike Lee spoke out Sunday against President Barack Obama's expected executive action on immigration and again vowed to seek changes in the Affordable Care Act.
But Lee said there is no plan to use the Republican party's new-found strength in the Senate to bring a showdown that could lead to another government shutdown.
"We're not heading into a government shutdown," he said, as he and Romney appeared on CBS Face the Nation Sunday morning. Lee said Republicans are "standing ready" to defend the rule of law. But how they respond will depend on what action Obama takes, he said.
Lee's fight last year against the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, helped spur the standoff between Republicans and Democrats that led to the government shutdown. Lee said at the time: "When you see a train wreck about to happen, you can't — at least I can't — just stand there and watch it without at least trying to do something to stop it," the Utah Republican said.
Sunday Lee was asked again whether Republicans would attempt to repeal Obamacare, even though Republicans do not have the votes to override a presidential veto.
He's poking an eye of the Republican leaders in Congress and he's making it more difficult for there to be a permanent solution to this issue. What he's proposing to do is a temporary solution, which would ultimately be reversed by a Republican president. It's the wrong way to go.
–Mitt Romney
"A vote on a full repeal measure is likely," he said, while adding that even if it's not repealed, "I think there will also be a number of efforts to change it."
He said a vote or action on repeal would require the president to explain his actions to the American people.
Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate and Massachusetts governor, warned Obama that "poking Republicans with a stick in the eye is not a good idea."
"He's poking an eye of the Republican leaders in Congress and he's making it more difficult for there to be a permanent solution to this issue. What he's proposing to do is a temporary solution, which would ultimately be reversed by a Republican president. It's the wrong way to go," Romney said.
The president is expected to take executive action that would prevent the deportation of an estimated 5 million people currently in the country illegally. Changes to law enforcement programs and an expansion of business visas also are expected.
Obama says he must act because the House GOP never did after the Senate passed a sweeping bill more than a year ago that included a pathway to citizenship for most of the 11.5 million people in the country illegally.
Romney said the president and Democrats should "take a breath" and let Congress have its say.
"The president said that he was not on the ballot in the election that was just held, but that his polices were. And the American people sent a very clear message to the president about his policies, they are not happy about them," he said.
Romney does not believe Republicans should respond with another government shutdown, saying there are more productive ways to achieve their goals than a temporary stop-gap.
Romney, who was the chairman of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and graduated from Brigham Young University in 1971, will be speaking at the Marriott Center in Provo on Tuesday at 11:05 a.m.
Contributing: Associated Press
