Republicans Rip 'Emperor Obama' On Immigration

Republicans have excoriated President Barack Obama's go-it-alone move to lift the threat of deportation for nearly five million US residents.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Mr Obama was "damaging the presidency itself" with measures even he previously shunned.

"The President has taken actions that he himself has said are those of a king or an emperor, not an American President," said the Ohio Republican in a Friday morning news conference.

He accused Mr Obama of deliberately sabotaging chances of bipartisan immigration reform, but the President scoffed at the suggestion.

Speaking at a Las Vegas high school later on Friday, he repeatedly challenged Republicans: "Pass a bill."

The President said he was merely using executive powers in the same way his predecessors had in order to force through the changes.

Analysts say the Republicans must tread a fine line in appeasing angry conservatives, without alienating the Latino voters who will be vital for the 2016 presidential election.

In his primetime White House address on Thursday night, Mr Obama laid out the most sweeping changes to immigration laws in nearly 30 years.

The plan means migrants living illegally could be given work permits to save them from being ejected from the country - although it would leave millions more in limbo.

Under the changes, those who have been in the US for at least five years would be able to apply legally for jobs, but not vote or qualify for insurance under the president's healthcare law.

Several hundred thousand others would be eligible for relief under the expansion of a 2012 move by Mr Obama to stop deporting people brought illegally to the US as children by their parents.

Mr Obama's action would also place a new emphasis on the deportation of new illegal arrivals and criminals.

He argued that the US should be helping those who work hard, often for low wages in difficult jobs, shared American values and wanted to participate in society, while at the same time cracking down on criminals.

Republicans - buoyed by their capture of Congress in this month's mid-term elections - seem unsure how to counter Mr Obama's action.

Options include lawsuits, a government shutdown and even impeachment.

However, conservatives are aware any shutdown could backfire ahead of the presidential election in two years' time.