Sharry and Medina told msnbc they came away from their own meeting with Obama encouraged that he would take steps to halt deportations for at least some groups. Both named June as their tentative deadline for GOP action, after which they assumed immigration reform was done for the year and activists would move on to their next steps. According to The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, activists who spoke to the president believe the White House is on a similar timetable in determining new executive actions.

“My sense is that the president wants to give them ever chance to do something, but if they wont do it I take him at his word during his State of the Union speech when he said ‘If Congress won’t act, I will,’” Medina said.

Sharry, usually known for his optimism, put the odds of Republicans abandoning immigration reform this year only to return to it in the middle a Republican presidential primary at “somewhere between zilch and nada.” That gives activists even less incentive to hold back in the hopes of encouraging a future deal.

“Quite frankly, we expect Obama to act boldly to protect most of the undocumented through executive action,” Sharry said. “Then we’ll go abut the business of electing a Congress that will pass reform without all these concessions to Republicans.”