TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida’s congressional leaders fired back at Gov. Ron DeSantis after he accused of them of “theatrics” Monday.

The Florida Senate House and Senate both ended the special session called by the governor abruptly Monday morning before beginning their own. This came after both Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton called the special session by the governor “premature.”

This move effectively killed all the prior legislation that was filed before the governor’s special session — allowing them to put forward the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act, also known as the TRUMP Act, to replace the bills DeSantis wanted to crack down on immigration. The bill also removes immigration enforcement from the governor’s office and would place it under the authority Florida Agricultural Commissioner Wilton Simpson.

“In fact, the position we now know as the commissioner of agriculture began as the commissioner of immigration,” said Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-116th House district.

Before adjourning the special session for the Florida State House, Perez said efforts were made to harass legislators in order to pressure them to act.

“In the last week, attempts have been made to bully members of this House, including sending out mass emails and text messages with members’ personal cellphone numbers on them,” Florida state House Speaker Danny Perez said. “Attacks on this body, attacks on all of you, will not be tolerated. This House will never be moved by threats.”

DeSantis was not pleased with this motion, saying the TRUMP Act was “substantially weaker” than the bills he wanted.

“It is an insult to name such a weak bill after President Trump, who has been so strong on this issue,” the governor wrote on social media.

He also said under Florida’s agricultural commissioner, immigration enforcement would never happen.

“In short, it puts the fox in charge of the hen house,” he wrote.

In response to DeSantis’ remarks, Perez and Albritton wrote a biting statement criticizing the governor and accusing him of not reading the bill before responding on social media:

The Governor did not read President Trump’s Executive Orders before calling a special session. As a matter of fact, they didn’t exist. And, it would appear he didn’t read SB2B/HB 1B before issuing a response on social media. He leveled serious and inappropriate insults at his fellow Cabinet Officer, local law enforcement officers, and our agricultural community.

He states in part, ‘Florida localities will provide no meaningful assistance to federal efforts.’

This is a blatant lie about the Florida law enforcement officers who are on the front lines protecting our communities from criminal illegal immigrants each and every day. The fact is that the TRUMP Act is an expansion of existing requirements that a sheriff operating a county jail must enter into a written agreement with ICE to help identify and detain criminal illegal immigrants, including county jails not operated by sheriffs. Law enforcement is our partner, not our enemy. It’s no wonder the Governor’s proposal included criminal penalties for law enforcement. His statement clearly suggests he doesn’t trust the boots on the ground, but we do.

He also states in part, ‘It unconstitutionally removes authority to enforce the law from the governor to a lower-level cabinet agency, the department of agriculture, that does not oversee state law enforcement.’

This statement is completely untrue, and the Governor knows that. Under our bill, the Governor will maintain all of his emergency powers. The Commissioner of Agriculture already has broad authority to act during emergencies and does in fact have a law enforcement division of 200 sworn law enforcement officers who partner with local law enforcement to provide a statewide presence at our borders. There is absolutely nothing unconstitutional about the separation of powers and the advancement of immigration enforcement at a constitutionally-created Cabinet-level agency other than the Governor.

Finally, he states in part, ‘giving enforcement power to the agricultural arm of state government, it ensures that enforcement never actually occurs. In short, it puts the fox in charge of the hen house.’ This outrageous statement maligns the hard working farmers who work day and night to keep food on grocery stores shelves across Florida.

The Legislature will not act in a disingenuous or dishonorable way by attacking anyone, especially our law enforcement. Unlike others, the Legislature is not interested in misleading or attacking Floridians, especially Florida law enforcement. Our number one goal is to work together with President Trump. Anyone that says anything otherwise is not reading the bill, not reading the executive orders, or just not telling the truth.

It’s easier to fool someone then to convince them they were fooled. We aren’t trying to fool anybody. We stand on the Constitution, and the truth.

House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton