President Obama announced Thursday that he's using executive actions to grant temporary relief to some of the nearly 12 million immigrants living in the United States illegally. There's been debate over how much latitude the president has to act on immigration, but the Obama said he felt compelled to act after Congress failed to pass a reform bill.
"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," the president said.
Even before the prime-time speech, congressional leaders were fired up about the president's plan. "The first thing we need to explain to the American people is that this is illegal," Rep. Raul Labrador, Republican of Idaho, told NPR's All Things Considered.
And Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois came to the president's defense, calling the action "bold" and "generous."
But Congress is now out of session until the first week of December, so many members are weighing in on the president's speech on Twitter and other platforms — with mixed reactions.
Here's some of what they're saying:
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
