Constitution over Christ?

In the debate surround Trump’s rescission of the DACA program the main argument in favor of it’s rescission , from Christian and  non-Christian’s alike, is that Obama overstepped his constitutional authority in creating the program. Therefore, it must go. Never mind the fact that the Supreme Court split 3-3 on it’s decision of the constitutionality of the similar DAPA program, and never mind the fact that Trump has used executive authority to dictate immigration policy as well.

Clearly, I think that line of argument is flawed. If need be I can make my point, but there are far more qualified people who do that.

What bugs me is that Christians are making this argument. They always refer to some concept of rule of law, and that the process must be followed for something to be right and moral. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for right processes, but really?

I have trouble imagining Jesus taking the side of the constitution over and against the 800,000 young adults who stand to lose their jobs, who may be deported to countries they don’t know, and whose families will be plunged into poverty and ripped apart, because of some political positioning, some game of chicken between the White House and Congress.

There are plenty of instances in the New Testament where Jesus critiques people for focusing so much on the law that they forget that real people suffer the consequences of those decisions. There is plenty of fodder in the entire Bible that proves that we should be more focused on welcoming immigrants and treating them as one of our own than we should be focused on defending our borders and making ourselves feel safe. And there is one very poignant passage in Matthew 25 that shows that nations will not be measured by if their presidents overstepped constitutionality in order to protect people, but in how they care for the sick, the imprisoned, the hungry, and the immigrant.

Why is it ok for Trump to execute executive orders to keep people out, but not ok for Obama to protect people who are already here? I’m not trying to be an apologist for Obama, but I am trying to make a point that perhaps what is driving us is not the Constitution, but instead a sinful us-versus-them mentality that wants to keep “non-Americans” out and to selfishly guard all that we have for ourselves. All the while, Jesus is calling us to care for our neighbors. He doesn’t ask us if they’re here legally. He doesn’t ask us if the program they’re a part of was constitutionally based. He doesn’t ask if they look like us or speak our language. He asks us to love them as God does. God’s love sees no borders, celebrates diversity, and transcends national politics. Ours should be no less generous.