When the U.S. House voted 219-197 late last week to disapprove of President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador didn’t vote “yes.” He didn’t vote “no” either. Instead, Labrador voted “present,” mystifying the folks back home.

A request for comment to his office Friday yielded a referral today to this Roll Call article, which reports that three of Obama’s biggest GOP critics in the House – Labrador, Rep. Steve King of Iowa and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona – all voted “present,” because they were sending a message. The message: While liking the substance of the measure, they thought it was a sop to them, a move, Roll Call reported, “brought to the floor only to pacify lawmakers like themselves, who don’t want to vote to fund the government past Dec. 11, when current federal spending expires, unless it includes a policy rider explicitly defunding the immigration policy changes.”

“I believe in the principle; I also want to make sure this isn’t a cover,” Gosar told Roll Call. Labrador said, “The language is OK, but as a standalone bill, it was a meaningless action.”