Did Ted Cruz Make the Wrong Move? [POLL]

Senator Ted Cruz is known as a fighter and as someone who doesn't back down. However, one move he made over the weekend even had Republicans upset according to the Washington Times.

The 43-year-old Texas freshman in a political hurry - he’s considering a 2016 presidential run - infuriated several GOP colleagues with a last-minute attempt to force a vote on President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

The move upended lawmakers’ weekend plans and, more troubling for his party, gave Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., an opening to move forward on long-stalled Obama nominees.

When Cruz got his vote Saturday, he lost badly, 74-22, as even Republicans who agree with him on immigration repudiated his effort. Moments later, Congress cleared the spending bill.

“You should have an end goal in sight if you’re going to do these types of things and I don’t see an end goal other than irritating a lot of people,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said it was a repeat of last year’s shutdown showdown over Obama’s health care law, when it was engineered by Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Isakson said it was a movie he had seen before and “wouldn’t have paid money to see it again.” He called Cruz’s move a problem, not a strategy.

Added Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.: “I fail to see what conservative ends were achieved.”

For once, Democrats opted not to criticize Cruz publicly, a surefire indication they calculated that he was only hurting Republicans.

Cruz was unapologetic. He said the sole purpose of his efforts was to secure a Senate vote to “stop President Obama’s amnesty” - his description of the president’s plan for work visas for an estimated 5 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.

“Both Democrats and Republicans will have the opportunity to show America whether they stand with a president who is defying the will of the voters or with the millions of Americans who want a safe and legal immigration system,” Cruz said in a speech to a crowded Senate chamber moments before the vote.

Reid derisively said the “junior senator from Texas” was “wrong, wrong, wrong.”

In a Facebook post, Cruz had blamed Reid, arguing that Saturday’s series of round-the-clock votes on nominations was to prevent the vote he sought.

Cruz said Reid was “going to an embarrassing length to tie up the floor to obstruct debate and a vote on this issue because he knows amnesty is unpopular with the American people, and he doesn’t want the Democrats on the record as supporting it.”

Did Cruz do the right thing in calling for a vote on President Obama's executive orders? Let us know what you think in today's KFYO Poll of the Day.