Congressman Glenn Grothman says Trump should end birthright citizenship via executive order

Congressman Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., said he thinks President-elect Donald Trump ought to end birthright citizenship through an executive order because he doubts the Senate will pass such a measure.

"In the Senate, they have a filibuster rule which means for things that are purely policy-related, they're going to need 60 votes," Grothman said on the "Furthermore with Amanda Head" podcast. "They're not going to get 60 votes. So it's going to have to be his just order coming down."

Trump had talked about getting rid of birthright citizenship in his previous term but it didn't happen.

"He never got around to it," Grothman said, referencing Trump. "Other countries don't do it. As we pick new Americans, We got to pick them for some reason other than somebody made a tourist trip here, had a baby ... that's the hook to get in more and more people."

Conservative scholars have argued that the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment doesn't grant citizenship to children of immigrants if they are born in the U.S., while liberal scholars argue it does.

Former Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced legislation in July that would end birthright citizenship for immigrants who came to the U.S. 

Grothman argued that Democrats misinterpreted the 14th Amendment and said it was aimed at former slaves, not immigrants.

"When they said in the Constitution, or when the amendments in the Constitution were put in, as to who was a citizen, they were aiming at former slaves," he said. "And now, the Democrats misconstrued [it]."