US President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference. (Reuters)
US President Barack Obama will declare on Thursday his intention to give temporary residency to millions of undocumented migrants, setting up a clash with an angry Congress.
Obama's executive action could affect up to five million of the estimated 11 million people - most of them from Mexico and Central America - living and working illegally in the United States.
Since 1986, when then Republican president Ronald Reagan granted a sweeping amnesty, all attempts at major reform of the country's immigration system have failed.
Faced with a congressional stalemate, Obama - who made the issue one of his priorities on taking office in 2009 - has decided, with two years left in the White House, to take the matter into his own hands.
The president will explain his proposals to the nation in a prime-time speech at 8:00 pm (0100 GMT Friday). On Friday, he will elaborate on the plan in a speech at a Las Vegas high school.
"Everyone agrees that our immigration system is broken," he said in a video message Wednesday. "Unfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long."
Obama is expected to allow some migrants who have lived in the United States for more than five years, and who have had no prior run-ins with the law, to apply for a temporary work permit.
A program allowing temporary residency cards for minors who arrive in the United States before the age of 16 could be expanded.
All in all, the move would protect three to five million people from the threat of arrest and deportation by US federal authorities.
It may not, however, provide a clear path to eventual citizenship or permanent residency for migrants, an idea that may have to wait for another president or another generation of lawmakers.
The White House has long sought to pass a broad immigration reform package that would offer a path to citizenship for young migrants that grew up in the United States.
A new immigration law did pass the then-Democratically controlled Senate last year, but the Republican House of Representatives blocked it and failed to agree on its own alternative proposal.
White House lawyers and many outside experts believe Obama has the constitutional authority to act.
While other presidents have used executive powers to grant amnesty to undocumented migrants, none has ever taken such sweeping action.
Republican ire
Republicans, who will control both the House of Representatives and the Senate in January after a huge win in this month's midterm elections, says Obama is going way too far.
"If he acts by executive diktat, President Obama will not be acting as a president - he will be acting as a monarch," Republican Senator Ted Cruz, one of Obama's harshest critics, wrote in an opinion piece.
Some have questioned the constitutionality of his actions. Others say Congress just needs more time.
Incoming Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Thursday that the new Congress that begins sitting in January would exact political retribution.
"If President Obama acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act," he said.
"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."
But Democrats counter that those same Republicans have blocked other attempts at reform.
According to an opinion poll conducted by NBC and The Wall Street Journal, 48 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama's immigration plans, against 38 percent who back them.
Storm brewing on Capitol Hill
The political firestorm unleashed by Obama does not bode well for relations between Congress and the White House in the coming months.
Republicans cannot block a presidential decree, but they can make Obama's last two years extremely difficult -- by blocking his choices to fill ambassadorial and administration posts, as well as judgeships.
However, with the 2016 presidential election on the horizon, the debate within the party on immigration will be lively, as Republicans can ill afford to ignore Hispanic voters, 70 percent of whom voted for Obama in 2012.
Obama's executive action could affect up to five million of the estimated 11 million people - most of them from Mexico and Central America - living and working illegally in the United States.
Since 1986, when then Republican president Ronald Reagan granted a sweeping amnesty, all attempts at major reform of the country's immigration system have failed.
Faced with a congressional stalemate, Obama - who made the issue one of his priorities on taking office in 2009 - has decided, with two years left in the White House, to take the matter into his own hands.
The president will explain his proposals to the nation in a prime-time speech at 8:00 pm (0100 GMT Friday). On Friday, he will elaborate on the plan in a speech at a Las Vegas high school.
"Everyone agrees that our immigration system is broken," he said in a video message Wednesday. "Unfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long."
Obama is expected to allow some migrants who have lived in the United States for more than five years, and who have had no prior run-ins with the law, to apply for a temporary work permit.
A program allowing temporary residency cards for minors who arrive in the United States before the age of 16 could be expanded.
All in all, the move would protect three to five million people from the threat of arrest and deportation by US federal authorities.
It may not, however, provide a clear path to eventual citizenship or permanent residency for migrants, an idea that may have to wait for another president or another generation of lawmakers.
The White House has long sought to pass a broad immigration reform package that would offer a path to citizenship for young migrants that grew up in the United States.
A new immigration law did pass the then-Democratically controlled Senate last year, but the Republican House of Representatives blocked it and failed to agree on its own alternative proposal.
White House lawyers and many outside experts believe Obama has the constitutional authority to act.
While other presidents have used executive powers to grant amnesty to undocumented migrants, none has ever taken such sweeping action.
Republican ire
Republicans, who will control both the House of Representatives and the Senate in January after a huge win in this month's midterm elections, says Obama is going way too far.
"If he acts by executive diktat, President Obama will not be acting as a president - he will be acting as a monarch," Republican Senator Ted Cruz, one of Obama's harshest critics, wrote in an opinion piece.
Some have questioned the constitutionality of his actions. Others say Congress just needs more time.
Incoming Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Thursday that the new Congress that begins sitting in January would exact political retribution.
"If President Obama acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act," he said.
"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."
But Democrats counter that those same Republicans have blocked other attempts at reform.
According to an opinion poll conducted by NBC and The Wall Street Journal, 48 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama's immigration plans, against 38 percent who back them.
Storm brewing on Capitol Hill
The political firestorm unleashed by Obama does not bode well for relations between Congress and the White House in the coming months.
Republicans cannot block a presidential decree, but they can make Obama's last two years extremely difficult -- by blocking his choices to fill ambassadorial and administration posts, as well as judgeships.
However, with the 2016 presidential election on the horizon, the debate within the party on immigration will be lively, as Republicans can ill afford to ignore Hispanic voters, 70 percent of whom voted for Obama in 2012.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
