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 With many Americans skeptical of his decision to bypass Congress
and impose an immigration overhaul unilaterally, Obama attempted to
rally support for his move in a speech at a Las Vegas high school,
saying illegal immigrants need a chance to come out of the shadows.
He engaged in a cross-country debate with Boehner, the top U.S.
Republican, who accused Obama in Washington of sabotaging chances
for bipartisan legislation and vowed to lead a fight to block his
executive actions.
In the summer of 2013, the Democratic-run Senate passed compromise
immigration legislation but the bill died in the
Republican-controlled House. Obama said he waited to see if the
House would ever pass the legislation, but Boehner would not let it
come to a vote.
"I told John Boehner, 'I'll wash your car, walk your dog, whatever
you need to do, just call the bill," Obama said. "And he didn't do
it."
To those lawmakers who feel he overstepped his constitutional
authority, Obama said his message to them is: "Pass the bill." Obama's move threatens to herald a new round of partisan gridlock in
Washington as Republicans who will control both chambers of Congress
in January react with scorn to his decision.
 Republicans remain split on the best course of resistance to Obama's
action easing the threat of deportation for some 4.7 million
undocumented immigrants. Conservative groups were already pulling
together legal strategies to challenge it.
"With this action, the president has chosen to deliberately sabotage
any chance of enacting bipartisan reforms that he claims to seek.
And as I told the president yesterday, he's damaging the presidency
itself," Boehner told reporters.
"We're working with our members and looking at the options available
to us," he said. "But I will say to you, the House will, in fact,
act."
Obama received a rousing welcome from a largely Latino audience at
Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, the same place he visited just
after beginning his second term in 2013, when he laid out his
principles for immigration reform.
"Si se puede," they chanted.
A heckler shouted at Obama that his order did not go far enough.
Obama engaged him from across the high school gym.
"I've heard you, young man, I’ve heard you. But what I’m saying is
that this is just a first step," Obama told him.
Outside, a couple of dozen protesters who opposed his actions
shouted slogans and held up signs that said: "Stop Obama Amnesty."
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Before getting off Air Force One shortly after landing in Las Vegas,
Obama signed two presidential memoranda to set in motion part of the
biggest U.S. immigration changes in a decade.
Just hours after his speech on Thursday night, Republicans launched
a long-threatened lawsuit against the administration on another
topic, accusing it of abusing executive authority through
implementation of the president's "Obamacare" health reform law.
Republicans have said in recent weeks they would consider adding a
challenge to the Obama immigration order to the healthcare lawsuit.
But the most prominent strategy under consideration, supported by
many conservatives in Congress, is to withhold funds for
implementation of the immigration order from a major spending bill
needed to fund the government by Dec. 11.
A fight over the spending bill could lead to another shutdown of
federal agencies, one year after a 16-day closure that inflicted
heavy political damage on Republicans.
"We do need to find a way to really push back," Republican Senator
Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who has called for using the spending bill
as a vehicle to challenge the order, said at the Heritage
Foundation.
Other Republicans have suggested a range of options, from opposing
all of Obama's nominees unless he relents, to stand-alone
legislation undoing the order and even impeachment.
(Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson, David Lawder and Amanda
Becker in Washington; Editing by John Whitesides and Tom Brown)
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