US President Barack Obama unveiled his plan to fix what he can with America’s broken immigration system.  Limited to the power of his executive authority, he dared his critics in congress:  If they didn’t like what he was doing, then they should pass a law of their own making. 

“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,” Mr. Obama said during a prime time address.  “I want to work with both parties to pass a more permanent legislative solution.  And the day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary.”

Some of the wing-nuttier republicans in congress have been murmuring about impeachment and criminal charges.  But the actions Obama are taking are long-established to be within the Executive branch’s area of authority, and Obama is actually the latest in a line of US Presidents from both major political parties who have used Executive Actions to deal with immigration issues.

The cornerstone of Obama’s executive action is a new “deferred action” program to authorize undocumented parents of US citizens and lawful permanent residents temporarily live and work in the country, as long as they’ve resided in the US for at least five years and can show that their child was born before the date of Obama's announcement.  This huge action covers more than 4 million people.  But it doesn’t offer a path to citizenship or entitle them to the same benefits as Americans, he said.

“If you’re a criminal, you’ll be deported.  If you plan to enter the US illegally, your chances of getting caught and sent back just went up.”

This action is temporary, and can be reversed by the next president.

The republicans are apoplectic (or just feigning outrage for the Murdoch-edjumacated tea party base), and are threatening a massive backlash that could include a lawsuit (Obama is a constitutional scholar, so good luck) or another government shutdown.

“I’m sure they’re going to spend a lot of energy thinking of creative ways to stop us, either through funding bills or other,” one administration official said.  “But either way it’s a largely irrelevant point because that will, in and of itself, be something the president would veto.”