/ Modified dec 4, 2014 4:52 p.m.

Arizona Signs onto Challenge of Obama's Immigration Policy

Brewer authorizes state joining lawsuit seeking to have president's executive actions declared unconstitutional.

brewer obama spot Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and President Obama
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Gov. Jan Brewer Thursday authorized Arizona joining a multi-state lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration.

In a statement, Brewer called the actions "illegal and unconstitutional."

“As a border state bearing the brunt of our nation’s broken immigration system – a crisis exacerbated by the president’s reckless immigration policies and refusal to enforce the law – our state and our citizens have had enough," Brewer said in the statement.

At least 17 states, led by Texas, have joined the suit seeking to have Obama's actions last month stopped.

The president on Nov. 20 took action to expand deportation deferrals for as many as 5 million people now living in the country illegally. The country has an estimated 11.2 million undocumented immigrants.

Obama took the action saying he and the nation had waited long enough for Congress to pass immigration reform. The U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive bill in Jun 2013, but the House never acted on it.

Brewer's announcement of Arizona's involvement in the challenge to Obama came on the same day that the U.S. House passed legislation attempting to block the president's action.

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