This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah's even-more-visible young congressman, Jason Chaffetz, had a good go at the head of the Department of Homeworld, er, Homeland Security Tuesday. Our Washington-based reporter, of course, noticed:

Utah's Chaffetz pounces on Homeland Security chief over immigration — Thomas Burr | The Salt Lake Tribune

"Washington • Rep. Jason Chaffetz on Tuesday pressed Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on whether President Barack Obama changed the law to enact his recent immigration reforms.

"Johnson said it was clear he did not.

" 'We did not change the law,' he insisted. 'We acted within the law.'

"And then the Utah Republican pounced.

" 'Can you play the clip?' Chaffetz asked the Homeland Security Committee staff, teeing up a short video of Obama speaking only days before at a rally in Nevada.

" 'But what you're not paying attention to is the fact that I just took an action to change the law,' Obama says in the video played for the audience at the committee hearing.

" 'So you say he didn't change the law, but the president says he changed the law?' Chaffetz asked again, forcefully.

"Johnson didn't flinch.

" 'He acted within existing law,' the secretary shot back. 'He acted within our existing legal authority. Listen, I've been a lawyer 30 years. Somebody plays me an eight-word excerpt from a broader speech; I know it to be suspicious.' ..."

Chaffetz's attempt at AV-nerd gotcha also attracted the attention of some other political news outlets. Viz:

— Jason Chaffetz Confronts DHS Secretary Johnson On Immigration: "Did Obama Change The Law?" | Real Clear Politics

"If Jeh Johnson's testimony Tuesday morning before the House Committee on Homeland Security was meant as a goodwill mission, it didn't go too well.

"The Secretary of Homeland Security appeared before the committee to defend the president's executive action on immigration, and in the process revived some of conservatives' most bombastic anti-White House talking points. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) pressed Johnson on the status of four men apprehended crossing the border who are linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party, a group the State Department designates as a terrorist organization.

" 'You said they would be deported,' said Chaffetz. 'Did you deport them?'

" 'Uh, no, not at this point,' Johnson replied. ...

" ... This line of criticism could prove fruitful for Republican lawmakers, as it lets them tear into the White House's immigration policy while burnishing their national security bona fides. As a plus, it lets them change the conversation: Instead of focusing on what to do with the millions of undocumented immigrants living and working in the U.S. who don't have criminal convictions (Hint: Don't say "self-deportation), Republicans can put the White House on defense, raising questions about why it isn't tougher on terrorism and crime. Given Johnson's testimony this morning, the Administration may have a hard time producing satisfactory answers."

Others focused on other aspects of, and participants in, the debate:

Obama has already won immigration debate — Dana Milbank | The Washington Post

" ... Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, hauled in Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson Tuesday for a tongue-lashing about the executive orders. 'Unprecedented executive power-grab,' McCaul fumed. 'The president has deliberately and willfully broken the trust that is needed between our branches of government.' The chairman demanded that Johnson reconcile the actions with Obama's previous statements indicating such orders would be illegal.

"Johnson was calm and mild in his response. 'I do not believe that what we have done is inconsistent,' he said. 'We spent a lot of time with lawyers.'

"Republican members of the panel continued to rail against the policy but Johnson declined to be drawn into an argument. He didn't have to: Obama had already won."

Boehner's fake red meat for angry Republicans — Margaret Carlson | Bloomberg View

" ... His members Tuesday got to hold a show trial on the immigration order where Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was the only administration witness to testify. The House Homeland Security Committee's chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, has called Obama's executive action a 'threat to our democracy.' ..."

Even Marc Thiessen, W. speechwriter turned torture-apologizing pundit, wasn't impressed with how House Republicans have reacted to the president's immigration plans:

Turn the tables on amnesty — Marc A. Thiessen | For The Washington Post

" ... There is a better way for the GOP to turn the tables on Obama, by passing a rider limiting the president's executive order to those whom he says he wants to help — hard-working immigrants who have committed no crime other than coming to the United States to seek a better life. ..."