Whether conference leader or Tea Party firebrand, immigration hawk or supporter of comprehensive reform, there was broad agreement among Republicans that Obama’s expected plan will require a tough, swift response.

That even included a Republican senator who voted for the bipartisan immigration reform bill in 2013.

“Our Founders didn’t want a king and the American people don’t want a president who acts like one,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. “If the president were to do that and we have a Republican majority in the United States Senate, why, we have a number of options that we don’t now have to remind him to read Article I of the Constitution.”

A major reason why Republicans say they may take such steps is that they don’t have many options, a lesson they say they learned the hard way after Obama’s last executive action.