Among nine proposed amendments, "The Texas Plan" aims to prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one state. Another amendment requires Congress to balance its budget, and another allows a two-thirds majority of states to override a US Supreme Court decision.

"Congress is unable to control itself. So the people must impose control," Governor Abbott said during a speech before the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Abbott explained that federal lawmakers were out of step with the "Constitutional principles" our Founders put in place, and urged other states to join Texas in helping to "fix the cracks in our Constitution."

"The increasingly frequent departures from Constitutional principles are destroying the Rule of Law foundation on which this country was built," Abbott said, specifically citing President Obama's recent executive authorizations infringing on the Second Amendment.