Rep. Scalise: The ball is in the Senate's court

In January, with more than a month before the current Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding provision expires, the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund the department for the rest of this fiscal year.

That bill also includes language preventing the president from moving forward on illegal executive actions on immigration — an approach that Pew Research Center finds the majority of Americans oppose.

Since the founding of the republic, the legislative process has remained nearly unchanged. In order to either send a bill to the president's desk, or amend a bill and send it back to the House, the Senate must first vote to proceed to debate on the bill.

Multiple times now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has tried to bring up the DHS funding bill. Every single time, Senate Democrats have voted in unison against bringing up this essential funding measure for debate. Are they afraid of a public and transparent debate on this bill?

Included in these ranks are a number of Democratic senators who just months ago made statements in opposition to the president's proposed executive action on immigration that the House bill actually addresses.

Now, with an opportunity to fulfill their constitutional duty to fund an agency and fulfill a promise to their constituents, they have gone silent and are locked arm-in-arm obstructing the process from proceeding forward to fund this important agency.

It's time for Senate Democrats to stop playing partisan politics with our national security and proceed to the House-passed bill. If there is something they don't like in the bill, the legislative process allows them to file an amendment and fight for their proposed change. Leader McConnell has even guaranteed that Democratic amendments would receive consideration and debate.

The House has acted to fund DHS. It is now time for the Senate to do its job and take up the bill.

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., is the House majority whip.