Posted: Saturday, December 27, 2014 11:45 pm

By EMMA PEREZ-TREVINO Staff Writer

A federal judge will allow U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and several others to file court briefs in support of a lawsuit by Texas and 23 other states against President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

In addition, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri and several U.S. House members, along with the American Center for Law & Justice and the Committee to Defend the Separation of Powers, will be allowed to appear as “friends of the court” in the lawsuit and to file a brief in support of the states’ motion for a preliminary injunction.

Presiding U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has scheduled a hearing Jan. 9 in federal court in Brownsville.

The plaintiffs claim Obama’s executive actions are unconstitutional and unprecedented, and that the Constitution vested in Congress the exclusive authority to make law and set immigration policies.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 3 by Texas and 23 other states against Obama, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Leon Rodriguez, U.S. Border Patrol Deputy Chief Ronald D. Vitiello and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Thomas S. Winkowski, court records show.

As of Tuesday, no other state had joined the lawsuit.

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