Democrats again block bill to derail immigration order

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in the U.S. Capitol.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats, for the second time in two days, blocked a Homeland Security funding bill Wednesday that would derail President Obama's executive order to protect about 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.Senators voted 53-47 to advance the bill, falling short once again of the 60 votes needed.If Congress cannot reach agreement on a bill by the end of the month, funding will expire for the Department of Homeland Security and the agency will face a partial shutdown.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., insisted that the Senate vote on the $40 billion spending bill a second time after another round of debate.Republicans say the president's immigration actions are an unconstitutional power grab while Democrats say that Republicans are trying to appease immigration hardliners at the expense of the nation's security."Today's Democrat Party seems willing to go to any extreme to protect the kind of executive overreach President Obama once described as 'not how our democracy functions' — even to block Homeland Security funding to get its way," McConnell said before the vote.Democrats object to House-passed amendments that would cut off funding for Obama's executive order to protect the undocumented parents of U.S.citizens from being deported and allow them to work legally. Democrats also object to a provision to end Obama's 2012 program that offers protection from deportation and work permits to some undocumented immigrants brought to America as children."We should not play politics with critical resources that keep our country safe," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. "Using Department of Homeland Security funding as a bargaining chip to advance other issues is both reckless and dangerous."Dramatic video shows plane clip bridge before crashFeb 04, 2015