President Trump on Wednesday insisted that birthright citizenship "will be ended one way or the other," opening the door for congressional action one day after House Speaker Paul Ryan said that doing so by executive action was unconstitutional, Washington Examiner reported.

"So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof.' Many legal scholars agree....." Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning. 

In a follow-up tweet, Trump referred to a video of former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., from 1993 making the rounds this week online in which he said "no sane country" would allow birthright citizenship. Trump also said the legal fight over his tentative executive order, which has sparked a legal debate over whether it would run afoul of the 14th Amendment, would be settled by the Supreme Court.

Democrats and even Republicans have argued Trump can't undo birthright citizenship through executive action because the Constitution states that people born in the U.S. are citizens. The Constitution would have to be amended to change the law, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Tuesday pledged to introduce legislation to end birthright citizenship.

Ryan said it would be hypocritical for conservatives to back Trump's approach after complaining about former President Barack Obama, who used executive orders and actions to push his immigration agenda through after Congress refused to act.

Under Obama, the Department of Homeland Security created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides work permits and freedom from deportation for those who live in the U.S. illegally and arrived before the age of 18. The program has accepted 700,000 enrollees since 2012, but the Trump administration rescinded it in September 2017, saying it was illegitimate because only Congress could determine immigration levels, not the executive branch.

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