Alabama GOP calls for Gov. Bentley to resign

— -- Alabama's Republican Party on Sunday called for Gov. Robert Bentley to resign, stepping up the pressure on the state's chief executive as he battles a sex scandal.

In a resolution passed on Sunday, the Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee said Bentley, a Republican, should immediately step down from office amid allegations that he abused his position of power to cover up an affair with a top adviser.

The resolution came on the heels of a report released on Friday by the Alabama House of Representatives alleging that Bentley — a former dermatologist and Baptist deacon — misused state resources to cover up an inappropriate relationship with his now former adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

The committee said it was "deeply saddened" by the circumstances surrounding the House investigation.

"The Alabama Republican Party holds their elected officials accountable and demands the utmost integrity of office holders," the committee said in a statement Sunday.

Bentley has vowed to stay in office. "I do not plan to resign. I have done nothing illegal," he said on the state Capitol steps on Friday.

The state Supreme Court gave lawmakers the go-ahead to move forward with impeachment efforts on Friday.

After the court's decision, the House Judiciary Committee said it planned to proceed with impeachment hearings on Monday.

Bentley's lawyer called the report an "amalgam of hearsay, rumor and innuendo."

The Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee on Sunday commended the court, the House of Representatives and the Senate for "their courage and their diligence in the impeachment process while putting partisan politics aside for the people of the state of Alabama."

The state's ethics commission last week said it found probable cause that Bentley broke ethics and campaign laws and referred the matter for possible prosecution.

ABC News' Gloria Riviera and The Associated Press contributed to this report.