Ted Cruz: Obama is 'lawless' and senators must 'render judgement' on impeachment

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) opened the door over the weekend to impeaching President Barack Obama because he said that the commander in chief had been "lawless."

In an interview published on Saturday, Newsmax's Steve Malzberg asked Cruz what could be done about the "abuse of power" by the Obama administration.

"One of the most troubling aspects of the Obama administration is, aside from their radical policies, the way they've implemented it has sadly been lawless," Cruz explained. "Over and over again, this president has said, 'I don't care what the law is, I'm going to refuse to enforce it.'"

The Texas senator cited the administration's decision to grant work permits to young immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and tweaks to implementing the health care reform law.

"Is it impeachable?" Malzberg wondered.

"We have never seen a president behave like President Obama, who believes he can just pick and choose: He'll enforce this law, not enforce another law," Cruz opined. "That's a question for the House ultimately. The House, under the Constitution, makes the decision whether to impeach and then the Senate is charged with trying. So, that's a question for the House to assess."

"Would you urge them to consider it?" Malzberg pressed.

"You know, any impeachment would have to be tried in the United States Senate," Cruz noted. "And so, my responsibility would be to render judgment. I would not want to urge the House to do anything other than exercise its best judgement. And then I would endeavor to do the same."

Watch this video from Newsmax, broadcast Nov. 16, 2013.