Thousands sign petition asking to secede from US

It's not unusual for Americans to threaten to move to Canada when their candidate loses. But this year, the presidential election has sparked a new movement. Americans are filing petitions seeking to secede from the union and form new governments.

While some may think it's stupid, hundreds of thousands aren't so quick to mock the movement.

"I think what people are really saying is they want a smaller and less intrusive federal government," said Republican strategist Ted Delisi.

People in more than 30 states, including Georgia, have filed petitions asking the Obama administration to allow a state to withdraw from the United States and create its own government.

The documents have been filed on a section of Whitehouse.gov called "We the People."

As of Tuesday night, Texas has the most support with more than 23,000 signatures.

Once any petition reaches 25,000 signatures in 30 days' time, it mandates a response from the Obama But a response doesn't necessarily mean change.

"It's not in the President's power under the Constitution to let a state secede. In fact, it's not clear whether anyone, even Congress, could let a state secede. It might, in fact, take a constitutional amendment," said Bill Funk, a law professor at Lewis & Clark.

At last check, the petition filed by Georgians had nearly 24,000 signatures.