President Barack Obama faced the Washington press corps Wednesday afternoon, a day after the Democrats' landslide defeat in the midterm elections, but while admitting Republicans had a big night Tuesday, he also stated that he would be exploring his options in passing immigration reform before the end of 2014.

"I hear you," Obama told voters as he resisted reporters' repeated attempts to get him to coin a term for the loss. After the 2010 midterms, Obama had said he had received a "shellacking." "There is no doubt Republicans had a good night," he admitted.

Obama sounded like he was delivering a "mixed" message, promising bipartisanship, but at the same time threatening executive action -- particularly on immigration reform.

"Before the end of the year, we're going to take whatever lawful actions that I can take" to improve the immigration system, Obama said. The president said he would prefer for Congress to pass legislation, which would make unilateral action "go away." But in the meantime, his administration would assess "what we can do lawfully through executive actions," he added.

Republican candidates on Tuesday had won at least 10 of the day's 13 battleground Senate races, taking seats held by Democrats in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, the Carolinas and West Virginia. In the House, the GOP added at least 10 seats to its already substantial majority.

"Obviously, Republicans had a good night and they deserve credit for running good campaigns," the president said. "What stands out to me is that the American people ... expect the people they elect to work as hard as they do, expect us to focus on their ambitions and not ours. They want us to get the job done. All of us in both parties have a responsibility to address that sentiment."

Re-elected Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is poised to become the Senate's next majority leader, addressed the media just minutes before Obama took the podium. The Kentucky Republican said he, too, had high hopes for renewed bipartisanship on the Hill. But executive action on immigration, he warned, would be like "waving a red flag in front of a bull."