President Barack Obama announced on Monday that he will pursue executive actions by the end of summer to “fix as much of our immigration system as we can. If Congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours.”

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions wasted little time Tuesday addressing Obama’s plan. In fact, Sessions opened a meeting with constituents at the Camellia City Bakery & Deli in Greenville by tackling the issue.

“This is a significant over reach,” Sessions said. “I was really taken aback by this. The President is the chief law enforcement officer of the country. His oath and duty is to see that the laws are faithfully executed. The border patrol works for him. He selects who runs the border patrol. He selects the ICE (Immigration, Customs and Enforcement) officers. He selects the FBI, the Department of Justice — all of those people work for the executive branch. He appoints them. At some point you have to raise the question, ‘Are you just not going to do it?’”

Sessions said the lax enforcement of border security is a driving force behind the surge of illegal immigrants entering the country.

“I don’t see any moral or legal reason, or policy or economic reason to justify a system that allows open borders,” Sessions said. “No nation in the world has open borders. We can’t justify that. So, if you don’t have open borders you need a legal system that works and that serves the national interest.”

Sessions wrote on his Senate webpage last month: “The rising crisis at the border is the direct and predictable result of actions taken by President Obama. He and his Administration have announced to the world that they will not enforce America’s immigration laws, and have emphasized in particular that foreign youth will be exempted from these laws. The world has heard the President’s call, and illegal immigrants are pouring across the border in pursuit of his promised amnesty. President Obama is responsible for this calamity, and only by declaring to the world that our border is no longer open — and that the law will be restored — can this emergency be stopped.”

Sessions also touched on the economy saying he doesn’t feel the administration is doing enough to help spur growth.

“I believe we are paying a price for poor, poor policy decisions,” he said. “More taxes, more regulations, a slow down of American energy production, Obamacare has created a move to more part-time jobs and fewer full-time jobs — all of these things are a negative. We’re borrowing money to spend money. It’s kind of like taking a bucket and dipping water out from one end of a swimming pool and pouring it into the other. It doesn’t change anything. You’re not really adding anything.”

Sessions said Congress needs to act to eliminate meaningless regulations and simplify the tax code and make it more growth oriented.

“Our government in Washington has to create an economic climate that produces growth and job creation,” said Sessions. “And we’ve not done a good job of that. In fact, a lot of things that we are doing are hurting job growth.

Sessions also made a stop in Crenshaw County on Tuesday to discuss issues impacting the community.