Ted Cruz got himself in some trouble recently when he was booed off the stage for praising Israel at a conference ostensibly focused on Middle Eastern Christians. [Ted Cruz booed, walks off stage, by Jonathan Topaz, Politico, September 11, 2014]  Cruz was accused of cynically using the issue to position himself as the most pro-Israeli of all the GOP candidates.

Now, however, Cruz is shifting back to immigration and amnesty as his defining issue.

In a video first released to Breitbart on Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced his effort to combat President Barack Obama's potential executive amnesty action, which could come following November's midterm elections.

Viewers are encouraged to visit StopObamasAmnesty.com to sign a petition.

“Sen. Ted Cruz is leading the fight to secure the border,” the video explained. “Stop Obama’s amnesty and celebrate legal immigration. But he needs your help to hold Obama and Senate Democrats accountable.”

The amnesty effort from Obama would likely include an expansion of his so-called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and apply it to an additional 5-6 million adult illegal immigrants, which is an objective that would appear to be making the 2014 Senate elections a referendum on this executive amnesty.

[Watch: Ted Cruz Launches Anti-Obama Amnesty Effort, Breitbart, September 16, 2014]

Of all the Republican frontrunners in 2016, Cruz has been the most vocal—though not vocal enough.  In a crowded GOP field, SOMEONE is going to seize on immigration as their calling card.  If it's Cruz, immigration patriots will be once again identified as just another part of the American conservative movement.

That has some benefits — but it prevents the immigration issue from breaking out of the usual political categories and becoming the central point of a new political movement.