Top Republican: Congress can't 'de-fund' Obama on immigration

A senior House Republican says that it's impossible to de-fund President Barack Obama's upcoming moves on immigration in a spending bill.

Congressman Harold Rogers of Kentucky is Appropriations Committee chairman. Rogers says the Citizenship and Immigration Services agency gets its money through application fees, so Congress can't stop it by withholding funding in a spending bill.

A temporary government funding bill expires next month, and some conservative Republicans want to use a must-pass spending bill to block Obama on immigration. A similar effort last year to block the new health care law led to a 16-day government shutdown.

But next month's spending bill could carry legislative language designed to thwart Obama on immigration.