Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reasserted President Barack Obama’s legal authority to change existing immigration laws Thursday, while saying Republicans should not attach a spending bill rider blocking funding for Obama’s expected executive action.

“[Republicans] are saying to the president, ‘Don’t use your executive authority.’ Suppose he turned to us and said, ‘Don’t use your legislative authority,'” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. “That’s what presidents do: they have executive authority. … Why are we going down this path when Congress can prevent it all from happening by passing the Senate bill?”