Obama to press ahead on immigration, amid Republican anger
President Obama: "I wasn't going to sit idly by and not do at least what I was authorised to do"
US President Barack Obama has said he will press for further immigration reform, after Republicans condemned his use of executive powers on the issue.
Mr Obama said he had no choice but to act, accusing the Republicans of blocking a bill in Congress, and vowed to make permanent reform a reality.The current move means that more than four million illegal immigrants will be allowed to apply for work permits.
Republicans say it will encourage more people to arrive unlawfully.
Republicans have been weighing their response to Mr Obama's executive action, but the dilemma they face is how to oppose his immigration reforms without alienating Hispanic voters - whose support they will need in the next election, the BBC's David Willis in Washington reports.
'Like emperor' Speaking in Las Vegas, where he first outlined his plans two years ago, President Obama said: "I will never give up."
He said: "We're going to keep on working with members of Congress to make permanent reform a reality.
The BBC captures the moment Astrid heard her name
- the only undocumented immigrant mentioned in the speech was Astrid Silva
- she was brought to the US aged four, with just her doll, a cross and the dress she wore
- now she is working on her third college degree
"When members of Congress question my authority to make our immigration system work better, I have a simple answer - pass a bill."
"That's the truth. That's why we're still going to have to pass a bill... This is a first step, it's not the only step."
Mr Obama has insisted that his proposals, which are the biggest immigration reforms since the mid-1980s, do not amount to an amnesty.
Mr Obama added: "The bottom line is, mass amnesty would be unfair, but mass deportation would be both impossible and contrary to our country's character. That's not who we are.
"We didn't raise the Statue of Liberty with her back to the world. We did it with her light shining as a beacon to the world."
'King or emperor' A bill was passed in the Senate last year, but the Republicans have been refusing to bring it to a vote in the House of Representatives. The party now has a majority in both chambers following the mid-term elections this month.
Earlier on Friday, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner said Mr Obama's action had sabotaged any chance of enacting cross-party reforms and damaged the presidency itself.
He said the president had acted unilaterally "like a king or emperor" and not through a democratic process.
And he added: "The action by the president (Thursday) will only encourage more people to come here illegally. [It] also punishes those who have obeyed the law and waited their turn."
Immigration will be a key issue in the next presidential election"All year long I have warned the president that by taking unilateral action on matters such as his healthcare law or by threatening action repeatedly on immigration, he was making it impossible to build the trust necessary to work together," Mr Boehner said.
The same day, House Republicans filed a federal suit over the legality of parts of Mr Obama's signature healthcare reform law, nicknamed Obamacare.
'Out of shadows' Under Mr Obama's new immigration plan, undocumented parents of children who are US citizens or permanent legal residents will be able to apply for work permits lasting three years.
Visitors to a coffee shop in St Charles, Missouri give their views on the plan
More than four million of them are expected to benefit from the reform package forced through using executive action, which allow Mr Obama to bypass Congress.
Only parents who have lived in the US for five years will qualify.
Another part of the package will extend a programme that gives temporary legal status to people who arrived in the US as children.
Mr Obama has abolished the age limit and extended the cut-off point to 2010, potentially extending the programme to a further 300,000 people.
The US leader said his measures would allow illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows and get right with the law".
The vast majority of illegal immigrants in the US come from Mexico, according to figures supplied by Homeland Security.
They made up 59% of undocumented people in 2012, followed by El Salvador (6%), Guatemala (5%), then Honduras and Philipines (3%).
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