Sen. Ted Cruz proposes constitutional amendment to leave gay marriage up to states

Ted Cruz announced his 2016 presidential candidacy in March 2015.(Photo: Reuters)

Texas senator Ted Cruz introduced two bills this week to block gay marriage in states that define marriage between a man and a woman.

The first bill protects the states from lawsuits, and the second bill temporarily blocks federal judges from intervening in contested cases.

According to Bloomberg News, Cruz proposed a constitutional amendment that leaves the issue of same-sex marriage up to voters in individual states.

Several states have had their voter-approved gay marriage bans overturned at the federal level, although the US Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the constitutionality of the bans.

Cruz said striking down gay marriage bans was "a real danger to our liberty," and vowed last month to propose legislation that allows states to make their own decisions regarding gay marriage.

"We have seen judges, and especially the Supreme Court, ignoring the law," Cruz told WHO radio host Jan Mickelson. "If the courts were following the Constitution, we shouldn't need a new amendment, but they are, as you put it quite rightly, 'making it up' right now and it's a real danger to our liberty."

The 2016 presidential hopeful wants to ensure "that the federal government and unelected judges cannot set aside the democratically elected legislatures' reasonable decisions to enact and protect traditional marriage."

Bloomberg News predicted that the bills will fail in the Senate, but keeps the issue at the top of the minds of voters. The measures also demonstrates Cruz's unwavering stance against same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments for and against the constitutionality of gay marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and is expected to make a decision by the end of June 2015.