Dems divided over a plan B for immigration

Some have pushed the “Plan B” idea in the media to increase pressure on Republicans to support legislative reform, by getting them to fear Obama would legalize the 11 million himself if they don’t do it on their own terms. But others — including, sources say, the White House — think floating the idea is not only substantively absurd, but is also politically a mistake, because it only takes the pressure off Republicans on immigration by allowing them to slip back into fight-Obama-tyranny-at-all-costs mode.

The “Plan B” idea has generated a lot of attention lately, and for good reason: it’s pretty dramatic stuff. The idea — most recently given a big public push by Marco Rubio — is that if Republicans can’t support immigration reform, then they should fear Obama using his executive authority to legalize the 11 million, just as he did with the DREAMers. Rubio warned fellow Republicans that if they don’t embrace reform, “a year from now we could find ourselves with all 11 million people here legally through an executive order from the president.” …

“The White House is very unhappy with any mention of any executive action,” Sharry tells me. “They’re looking for a legislative victory and they have no interest in playing politics. The last thing they want is a distracting conversation about administrative action. They fear Republicans will think they’re up to something when all they’re up to is passing legislation.”