It was a quick hearing Tuesday morning, when Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, presented his proposed resolution telling Attorney General Chris Koster to join in Texas' lawsuit against the implementation of President Obama's immigration executive order.
No one questioned, supported or opposed the resolution, which includes statements "the resources of the State of Missouri are wrongfully drained by the unlawful influx of illegal aliens present in this state," it is "contrary to the rule of law for the federal government to require states to grant legal residence (and benefits) to individuals unlawfully present in this country," the "President of the United States has blatantly and flagrantly violated the rule of law by seeking to implement" his executive order and "it is the duty of the Attorney General of this state to defend and protect the rule of law of Missouri and of the United States."
Last week, Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, introduced a bill that - if passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jay Nixon - would give "standing" to his position and the speaker of the House in cases where the attorney general doesn't act as the Legislature's leaders think he or she should act.
Dempsey told reporters Monday: "The attorney general's got a job to do and, we think, part of that job is defending our Constitution (and) defending our laws.
"If he decides that he doesn't want to appeal a lower-court ruling, to ultimately let our Supreme Court decide, then I believe - through the filing of my bill, and I hope the Senate will support my position - that the Legislature should assume that responsibility."
Dempsey said Congress has that right at the federal level.
Part of the issue involves Koster's differing actions involving Missouri's law and constitutional provisions defining marriage only as the union of one man and one woman.
In recent months, Koster has worked to defend those provisions in a state case where the recorder of deeds in the City of St. Louis issued marriage licenses to several same-sex couples, while the attorney general declined to appeal a state circuit judge's ruling in a Jackson County case involving same-sex couples who were married in Iowa and other states where those marriages are legal.
The proposed law says only the House speaker and Senate president pro tem would have to agree on that course of action - the bill doesn't require votes by the members of either chamber.
Missouri's Constitution says: "The powers of government shall be divided into three distinct departments - the legislative, executive and judicial - each of which shall be confided to a separate magistracy, and no person, or collection of persons, charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of those departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances in this constitution expressly directed or permitted."
The state Constitution lists the attorney general as part of the executive department, while Dempsey is a legislator.
However, he said, he doesn't think his bill crosses that line.
"I think it's within our right, until someone tells me it's not," he explained.
Adding to the discussion is a requirement the Senate president pro tem, the House speaker and the main authors of some bills are named as defendants in a lawsuit challenging the bill.
That's happening today at the state Supreme Court, where the validity of two constitutional amendments approved by voters last August are being challenged.
Dempsey and former House Speaker Tim Jones were named as two of the four legislative defendants in a lawsuit challenging the lawmaker-written ballot title of the amendment modifying the existing right to bear arms in Missouri's Constitution.
Schaefer sponsored the amendment and is another of the defendants - he spent time Tuesday working on the arguments he's expected to make at the high court this morning.
The secretary of state is another named defendant.
Noting that lawmakers and others sometimes have conflicting legal issues in lawsuits, Dempsey said his bill would give the Legislature a chance to have a different representative.