Democrats hailed President Obama's move Thursday to halt deportations for millions of immigrants living in the country illegally. 
 
 But the lawmakers were quick to frame the executive actions as merely the first step on a much longer path toward overhauling the immigration system, a move they say only Congress can take. 
 
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 "It's bold, it's courageous, it's as good as it can be under the law," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "But that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to have a bill, and some of the provisions will have to take a little time to be implemented," she quickly added. "So there's plenty of time for the Republicans — in fact even two weeks when we come back [in December] — to pass an immigration bill." 
 
 A wave of Democrats issued statements Thursday night echoing that message. 
 
 Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), the incoming head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Obama's action is "a bold step in the right direction" but "not a permanent solution." Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the changes mark "a turning point for the nation" but "are not all-encompassing." And Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), Capitol Hill's most vocal proponent of an immigration overhaul, praised Obama's "courage" but quickly emphasized the need for a more permanent fix. 
 
 "We all must recognize that no executive action is a substitute for legislation," he said, "so the fundamental challenge of getting legislation through the Republican-controlled House remains the same." 
 
 The Democrats' strategy is clear: As much as they're welcoming Obama's actions with open arms, they also don't want it to become an impediment — political or otherwise — to Congress's efforts to enact a more permanent comprehensive reform law over the next two years. 
 
 The Senate had passed such a reform bill in June 2013 with broad bipartisan support, but House Republican leaders refused to consider it. Obama said his announcement this week is simply designed to help keep families together in the face of that congressional inaction, and he urged Congress to take the steps that would make his unilateral moves dispensable. 
 
 "The day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary," Obama said during Thursday's speech. 
 
 Such statements, however, have done nothing to appease Republicans, who are furious with what they consider an unconstitutional power grab by a president they say has habitually abused his executive power. 
 
 Scores of Republicans issued statements Thursday night suggesting that Obama, by his action, just made it harder for lawmakers to reach a deal on broader reforms. 
 
 "By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left," Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "His ‘my way or the highway’ approach makes it harder to build the trust with the American people that is necessary to get things done on behalf of the country." 
 
 Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), a former federal prosecutor, said Democrats' argument that past presidents have taken similar actions simply doesn't fly with GOP lawmakers. 
 
 "Attempts to undermine the law via executive fiat, regardless of motivation, are dangerous," Gowdy said in a statement. "Whether previous administrations acted outside of constitutional boundaries is not license to do the same." 
 
 Democrats, for their part, reject the notion that Obama's actions reduce the odds that Congress can pass legislation. They're quick to note that Boehner and the Republicans had the entirety of the 113th Congress to consider a bill before Obama acted Thursday but declined to do so. 
 
 "They are trying to poison the well by saying the president shouldn't do this," Pelosi said. 
 
 "But the fact is that I think many of our [Republican] colleagues here understand that we have to do this." ||||| During his speech on immigration reform, President Obama called on illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows" and "get right with the law." (AP) 
 
 During his speech on immigration reform, President Obama called on illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows" and "get right with the law." (AP) 
 
 President Obama sought to convince the American public Thursday that his plans to unilaterally change immigration laws were well within the precedent set by previous administrations and did not amount to an amnesty program for illegal immigrants. 
 
 In a prime-time address from the White House, Obama argued that a mass deportation of the nation’s more than 11 million undocumented immigrants “would be both impossible and contrary to our character.” 
 
 Rather, the president said, the measures he is enacting to defer the deportations of 4 million immigrants while simultaneously refocusing federal border control agents on the highest-priority cases, such as felons, gang members and recent border-crossers, are aimed at “actual threats to our security.” 
 
 “Felons, not families,” Obama said of who would be in line for deportations. “Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mom who’s working hard to provide for her kids.” 
 
 Under Obama’s plan, the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who have lived in the country for at least five years can apply, starting this spring, for relief from deportations for a period of three years. About 3.7 million immigrants are expected to qualify under the new guidelines. 
 
 The president also is expanding a 2012 program that has provided administrative relief to nearly 600,000 young people brought to the country illegally as children. Officials said that expansion, which will remove an age cap, could reach another 287,000 people. 
 
 The president’s speech, which lasted 15 minutes, was an effort to build public support and head off staunch opposition from congressional Republicans who have vowed to fight Obama’s use of executive actions to circumvent the legisative branch after an effort to pass a comprehensive immigration bill failed on Capitol Hill last summer. 
 
 Even before Obama took to the airwaves, GOP leaders were deliberating over their next move over how to stop him. Republicans in both chambers debated filing a lawsuit over the president’s use of executive authority, pursuing their own legislation on immigration policy or removing funding for federal immigration agencies. 
 
 “We are considering a variety of options,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who will become majority leader next month, said Thursday in a floor speech. He suggested that his preference would be for Republicans to avoid becoming mired in a fiscal clash during the lame-duck session, shortly before the GOP takes control of the Senate. 
 
 But White House lawyers expressed confidence that Obama has the legal standing to enact the changes. They cited previous executive actions taken by Republican presidents, including Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, both of whom signed orders protecting smaller groups of illegal immigrants from deportation. 
 
 In his remarks, Obama quoted another Republican — his predecessor, George W. Bush-- while making the case that illegal immigrants “are a part of American life.” 
 
 Asked about a potential GOP lawsuit, a senior administration official said: “Anyone with a filing fee can sue, there’s nothing we can do about that.” But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the president’s thinking, added that administration lawyers believe Obama’s actions “are absolutely supported by the law.” 
 
 1 of 37 Full Screen Autoplay Close Nov. 20, 2014 Skip Ad × Obama’s speech brings joy to some, disappointment to others View Photos Immigrants and their supporters gathered in across the country to listen as President Obama outlined his plan to prevent the deportation of several million illegal immigrants. Some rejoiced to learn that they are covered under the president’s plan, but others found that their status is not changing. Caption Immigrants and their supporters gathered across the country to listen as President Obama outlined his plan. Nov. 21, 2014 Immigration advocates rally Friday outside the White House to thank President Obama for providing relief to millions of undocumented immigrants. Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 Obama portrayed his approach as a “commonsense, middle-ground approach” that will allow otherwise law-abiding immigrants to “come out of the shadows and get right with the law.” 
 
 Addressing the chief criticism of Republicans — that illegal immigrants are being rewarded for violating the law to remain in the country — Obama declared that his policy is not amnesty. 
 
 “Amnesty is the immigration system we have today – millions of people who live here without paying their taxes or playing by the rules, while politicians use the issue to scare people and whip up votes at election time,” Obama said. “That’s the real amnesty – leaving this broken system the way it is.” 
 
 The plan to offer immigrants who qualify for Obama’s executive action plan three years of relief would mean that the newly processed applicants would be protected from deportations through the first year of Obama’s successor in 2017. That would leave it up to the new administration to determine whether to continue the program or abruptly eliminate it. 
 
 The new protections are a year longer than under the 2012 program for younger immigrants, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and officials said that the DACA program also would be revised to provide three years of relief. It also would change the date by which applicants must have arrived in the United States from June 15, 2007, to Jan. 1, 2010, officials said. 
 
 Administration officials said the president’s decision to protect illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents from deportation is based a “humanitarian” rationale that recognizes special legal statutes Congress has enacted to keep together families, administration officials said Thursday. 
 
 Under current law, immigrant children living legally in the United States are permitted to apply for visas for their parents, and Obama’s decision to defer the deportations of up to 4 million undocumented immigrants is consistent with that precedent, the officials said. 
 
 “The impact of the contrary position would be that mothers and fathers and their children could be separated,” said one senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in a briefing for reporters ahead of Obama’s prime-time address. “Congress has recognized this is a particular relationship that Congress is willing to protect.” 
 
 Obama alluded to the skilled worker piece of his plan at the White House on Thursday morning, during a ceremony to honor top American scientists. 
 
 “Part of staying competitive in a global economy is making sure that we have an immigration system that doesn’t send away top talent, but attracts it,” Obama said to applause, according to a transcript of the event. 
 
 If Obama follows through, his plan would be the most significant alteration in the U.S. immigration system since the 1980s. 
 
 Obama believes he can make the changes based on his own executive authority: White House officials said they spent months making sure that the president would do only what the law allows. Obama is acting after Congress — divided between a Republican-controlled House and a Democratic majority in the Senate — was unable to agree on an immigration overhaul. 
 
 But, even before Obama’s changes were announced, Republicans in Congress denounced them as reaching far beyond his constitutional powers. 
 
 A spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), for instance, referred to the president as “Emperor Obama” and charged that he was exceeding his constitutional authority and cementing “his legacy of lawlessness.” 
 
 “This is presidential overreach of monumental proportions,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who is likely to be the next chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. “It’s a direct erosion of congressional power. . . . I think Congress needs to and will resist and do so in a way that is responsible.” 
 
 But now, Republican leaders in Congress face a tricky question. 
 
 What, exactly, should they do about it? 
 
 The party’s leaders have advocated tactics that — they say — would provide a forceful response, without shutting down the government itself. They might file a lawsuit, challenging Obama’s authority in court. They might craft legislation to make their own revisions to immigration policy. 
 
 But many in the Republican rank-and-file believe those tactics would not be forceful enough. 
 
 Instead, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said on Wednesday that Obama’s executive action should be met with a refusal to vote on any more of his nominees. On Thursday, looking for a parallel to Obama’s actions, Cruz reached back to ancient Rome, comparing Obama to the Catiline conspiracy, a plot to overthrow the Roman Republic. 
 
 Sessions has advocated a series of short-term spending bills. The idea would be to create a series of deadlines: if Congress did not pass a new spending bill, the government might shut down. Sessions believes that these deadlines might give Republicans leverage to demand concessions from Obama on immigration. 
 
 But the risk for Republicans is that, if Obama does not cave the way Sessions expects, the government might actually shut down, and Republicans might get some of the blame. 
 
 Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has hinted at another possibility: bringing up articles of impeachment against Obama. 
 
 More moderate Republicans worry that these actions could alienate Latino voters and repeat the self-inflicted wounds of the 2013 government shutdown. 
 
 “The president wants to see an angry and intemperate response, thinking the Republicans will do something that leads to a shutdown,” said Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.). “Don’t take the bait, and don’t have a hysterical reaction. We can be strong, rational and measured.” 
 
 On Wednesday, Obama discussed his plans with more than a dozen congressional Democrats during a dinner at the White House, outlining why he believes his actions are “the first big step” in reforming the nation’s immigration system. But Obama also emphasized that his actions are not going to be a permanent solution. 
 
 Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and attended Wednesday night’s dinner, said the president “was very clear on the fact that we have to do this now and remain strong through this process.” 
 
 The showdown with Republicans comes two years after Obama, flush off his 2012 reelection, announced he would pursue a legislative overhaul of immigration laws as he sought to fulfill a campaign promise to Latino and Asian American supporters who were frustrated that the president had not done more on immigration in his first term. 
 
 But an 18-month effort to pass legislation, which included a path to citizenship, collapsed this summer in the face of strenuous opposition in the Republican-controlled House. In June, Obama promised to act aggressively on the problem in areas where the law allowed the use of his executive authority. 
 
 Administration lawyers have spent months reviewing case law and meeting with immigration advocates, law enforcement officials and legal experts to develop options for Obama, who reviewed them with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. 
 
 In addition to his plan to protect some immigrant parents from deportation, Obama is also expected to expand a 2012 program that has deferred the deportations of nearly 600,000 younger immigrants known as “Dreamers,” who were brought into the country illegally as children. (The name comes from the Dream Act, proposed legislation that Congress has failed to pass.) Obama’s plans would expand that program by raising the maximum current age from 30 and raising the maximum arrival age above 16. However, it is not known how many years of eligibility he will add at either end or how many more people will be covered. 
 
 “I am getting slammed with calls from people asking me if they will qualify, but I can’t tell them anything yet,” said Simon Sandoval Moshenberg of the Legal Aid Justice Center in Falls Church, Va., which has helped scores of young immigrants apply for the deferred-action program over the past two years. “Any time you draw a line, there are people who fall on either side. It was heartbreaking to see people miss the age cutoff date by just a few weeks, and that can happen again.” 
 
 The White House, recognizing the political risks, moved to shore up public support with an aggressive sales job. Obama released a video on Facebook, explaining his reasons for taking action. By Thursday afternoon, the video had been watched more than 3.3 million times. 
 
 His prime-time address Thursday also is aimed at including “as many people across the country in this broader debate” as possible, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. However, most of the major television networks announced they will not carry the remarks live, leaving it to the cable news channels and the Spanish-language network Univision, where Obama’s remarks will come right before the airing of the Latin Grammy Awards. 
 
 On Friday, Obama will return to Las Vegas’s Del Sol High School, which holds a special significance for him. On Jan. 11, 2008, then-Sen. Obama arrived in that city after losing to then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire’s presidential primary. Obama pivoted to the heavily Latino voting bloc of Nevadans and delivered what became known as his “Si Se Puede” speech — the Spanish equivalent of “Yes We Can.” 
 
 At the high school that day, hundreds filled the gymnasium, and hundreds more waited outside as the president vowed to deliver on citizenship for undocumented immigrants. ||||| Story highlights Speaker Boehner slams Obama for "legacy of lawlessness" 
 
 Obama to shift deportation priority from families to felons 
 
 Moves will shield up to 5 million undocumented immigrants 
 
 President Barack Obama is ordering the most sweeping overhaul of the immigration system in decades, despite Republican claims he is acting illegally by moving unilaterally to shield five million undocumented immigrants. 
 
 Obama rejected accusations by conservatives that he is offering a free pass to undocumented immigrants and warned in a prime-time address that he would bolster border security and make it harder for unauthorized outsiders to get into the country. 
 
 "Today our immigration system is broken and everybody knows it," Obama said. "It's been this way for decades and for decades we haven't done much about it." 
 
 Obama is pressing ahead and making broad changes to the immigration system without the consent of Congress, which has failed to pass a comprehensive reform bill. The announcement prompted an angry response from House Speaker John Boehner. 
 
 "By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left," Boehner said. "Republicans are left with the serious responsibility of upholding our oath of office." 
 
 A key element of Obama's plan is to instruct immigration authorities to target those undocumented immigrants who are dangerous rather than law-abiding undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and residents and others. 
 
 He said they will go after "felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a Mom who's working hard to provide for her kids." 
 
 "We'll prioritize, just like law enforcement does every day," he said. 
 
 The changes will offer those who qualify the chance to stay temporarily in the country for three years, as long as they pass background checks and pay back taxes. But they will not be offered a path to eventual citizenship or be eligible for federal benefits or health care programs. And, in theory, the measures could be reversed by a future president. 
 
 "If you meet the criteria, you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. If you're a criminal, you'll be deported. If you plan to enter the U.S. illegally, your chances of getting caught and sent back just went up," Obama said. 
 
 The President argued that ordering a mass amnesty would be unfair but mass deportation would "be both impossible and contrary to our character." 
 
 Republicans are slamming Obama's use of executive authority as a mammoth presidential power grab. But Obama said he was acting in a manner consistent with action taken by Republican and Democratic presidents. 
 
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 "To those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill." 
 
 Officials insist that Obama's moves are deeply grounded in law and constitutional precedent, despite claims by Republicans that they represent an unlawful overreach of his authority as president and his oath of office. 
 
 "The actions you see here reasonably sit within his powers," one senior administration official said. "I think that they are bold and they are aggressive but they are in keeping with precedent." 
 
 Congressional Republicans are weighing their response, juggling ideas that range from a government shutdown to holding up Obama's nominees in the Senate. 
 
 And in the states, some Republican officials had already raised the possibility of lawsuits against the president. 
 
 The most far-reaching changes in Obama's order will offer papers and work authorization to up to four million people who are undocumented parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, as long as they have lived in the U.S. for five years or longer. 
 
 Obama will also remove the upper age limit of 30 years old from a program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Dreamers that allows those brought illegally to the country as children to stay, offering relief to thousands more people. 
 
 The program will cover anyone who arrived in the country before 2010 and will extend a previous two-year guarantee of relief to three years. 
 
 But White House lawyers concluded the president did not have the power to offer parents of those covered under DACA permits to stay in the country and work, a move that will disappoint some immigration reform lobby groups. 
 
 In one concession however, parents of the so-called "Dreamers" will be removed from priority lists for deportation. 
 
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 Officials said that the broad sweep of the immigration measures were within Obama's powers because he was directing authorities to prioritize which groups of the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants in the country should be deported. 
 
 "Deferred action is not a pathway to citizenship. It is not legal status. It simply says that for three years, you are not a law enforcement priority and are not going to go after you," said one senior official. "It is temporary and it is revocable." 
 
 Officials said law enforcement officials made similar decisions each day about which categories of offenders to target with prosecution and the president was simply charting a new way to apply existing immigration laws. 
 
 The new approach, which will begin to be phased in next spring, will include a more robust effort to target gang members, suspected terrorists, and felons. 
 
 It will also focus more sharply on undocumented immigrants who have recently crossed U.S. borders. This is a bid to slow the flow of illegal immigration, the officials said. New resources are also expected to be announced to secure borders, following claims that enforcement is lax and contributed to the flow of thousands of undocumented child migrants into the U.S. earlier this year, which sparked a hot political controversy. 
 
 In moves likely be applauded by the business community, the administration will also reform immigration rules to make it easier for science and technology students to study in the U.S. There will also be a new program to attract entrepreneurs to come to the U.S. if they can show they have sufficient investors. 
 
 But the president got mixed reviews among leaders in border states. 
 
 "In the face of Washington gridlock, the president stepped up for hard-working families across America. This is the right thing to do, and it's time for Congress to finish the job," said California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., a Democrat. 
 
 But Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Obama should have sought a bipartisan solution. 
 
 "He is once again taking brazen, unilateral action that will only further exacerbate the border problem," the Republican said. 
 
 Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the president's action will lead to more illegal immigration. 
 
 "It is time for the president and Congress to secure our border, followed by meaningful reforms. There is no more time for political grandstanding," he said. 
 
 The changes that Obama announced, however, fall far short of the reforms that could be enacted were Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration bill. 
 
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 The president has no power to put undocumented immigrants on the long road to citizenship. He cannot grant permanent residence permits known as Green Cards, and all of his changes could be struck down by a future president. 
 
 Officials insisted that Obama's moves were consistent with immigration actions ordered by presidents, including Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, for decades. The magnitude of the numbers involved here, however, surpass anything any president had done before.
– President Obama unveiled sweeping actions on immigration reform last night, and while the civil unrest Sen. Tom Coburn warned of hasn't materialized, it's safe to say congressional Republicans are deeply unhappy. Obama criticized Republicans for failing to act and dared them to "pass a bill," but the forceful actions GOP congressional leaders have promised in response are not expected to include immigration reform. More: Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised a tough response when the GOP majority takes office next year, but he didn't spell out any specific actions, Politico reports. Obama needs to understand that if he "acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act," McConnell says. "We're considering a variety of options. But make no mistake. When the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats, they will act." Possible actions include a lawsuit against the White House or choking off funding to federal agencies. House Speaker John Boehner was among many Republicans who warned that Obama's order will make it tougher to reach compromise on other reforms. "By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left," Boehner said in a statement. "His 'my way or the highway' approach makes it harder to build the trust with the American people that is necessary to get things done on behalf of the country." The immigration order not only sets the GOP against Obama, it raises the prospect of yet more intra-GOP conflict, with some conservatives demanding a government shutdown, reports the Washington Post. "The president wants to see an angry and intemperate response, thinking the Republicans will do something that leads to a shutdown," says Rep. Charlie Dent from Pennsylvania. "Don't take the bait, and don't have a hysterical reaction. We can be strong, rational, and measured." Democrats were broadly in support of the move to defer deportation for millions, but many called it just the first step in a process that should be completed by Congress, the Hill reports. The move is "a bold step in the right direction" but "not a permanent solution," says Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez, the new head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Among those affected by the move, there is some joy and relief, but some feel it didn't go far enough and hope for a longer-term solution, the AP finds. "This will definitely help our family no longer live in fear, fear that we will have to drop everything if our parents are deported," says a 20-year-old woman in Portland whose parents lack legal status. "But there is still fear, because this is ... temporary, and we need something permanent."