Obama to immigration advocates: You need to "right-size" your expectations

Within the White House, there’s a sense that the president does have significant legal authority to act, although aides anticipate that Republicans will oppose any administrative actions, big or small. But Obama and his aides have also signaled to advocates that he doesn’t want to create the modern template for presidents acting unilaterally and governing by going to court with Congress.

Aides say the decision-making process remains at the very preliminary stage, as administration officials continue to meet with immigration reform advocates. Obama has told advocates that White House counsel Neil Eggleston would lead the legal review in the West Wing, and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muñoz and her staff are continuing to look at areas that they think may be appropriate for action…

Much of the discussions have focused on what can be sold to the American public and midterm voters, with the 2012 Dreamers model very much on the participants’ minds. At that time, with his reelection in the balance, Obama signed an executive order allowing certain undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children to stay without the fear of deportation. He argued there should be protections for students or military members with clean records who did not make the decision to come illegally themselves. Hispanic and Asian voters turned out in large numbers that fall…

“Part of the calculation that they’re going to make is, ‘What can I explain to the American people coherently?’” said one advocate in touch with the White House. “Dreamers had a certain justification. What else can you do?”