North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) issued the following statement Friday in response to the Obama administration’s directive to public schools across the United States that they make school-aged boys and girls share bathrooms and locker rooms:

“The last time I checked, the United States is not ruled by a king who can bypass Congress and the courts and force school-aged boys and girls to share the same bathrooms and locker rooms. This is an egregiously unconstitutional overreach of the president's authority, and North Carolina's public schools should follow state law which protects our children’s safety and privacy.”