Gov. Jindal: 'I Don't Think the President Should Shut Down the Government'

Gov. Jindal: 'I Don't Think the President Should Shut Down the Government'

"I don't think the president should shut down the government to try to break the Constitution," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told a flustered Chuck Todd Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Todd had just asked Jindal, "If the president goes through with his executive action (on immigration), do you think Republicans and Capitol Hill ought to use even the power of shutting down the government to stop him from doing it?"

"Two things," Jindal responded. "I don't think the president should shut down the government to try to break the Constitution. The reality is this. I do think the---Todd interrupted: "You think that the president would be shutting down the government?" "Oh, absolutely--" Jindal said.

"And so, you do want Republicans to fight him on this, to the point that it could shut down the government," Todd interrupted.

"I don't think the president should shut down the government," Jindal repeated.

"You're twisting my question," Todd complained. "That means you want that kind of showdown."

"Let's step back and understand what we're talking about," Jindal said. "So the president said, 'I want to break the law.' He purposely said I’m going to wait till after the election, because I know it's not going to be popular to grant amnesty to millions of folks...that are here illegally. We had an election. He said his policies were on the ballot.

"He lost in red states, purple states, blue states. The American people overwhelmingly ejected and rejected his policies. Now he's saying, 'I'm still going to break the law.' Talk about arrogance. This president used to say, 'Elections have consequences.' We're talking about how can the Congress force the president to follow the law.

"I would expect even Democrats who may agree with him on substance, to say the right way to do this is to follow the Constitution, follow the law. No, we shouldn't shut down the government, but absolutely Republicans should do everything they can to force the president to follow the law.

"Let's secure the border and no, the president shouldn't shut down the government so that he can break the law."