Despite the opposition from the Republican Party, President Barack Obama is still determined to issue an executive action on immigration reform, and it could include deferment of up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.

On the same day as Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., were elected to leadership positions in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, respectively, reports claimed Obama plans to "protect" approximately 5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. According to The New York Times, the 5 million undocumented immigrants may be given the opportunity to receive work permits. Undocumented immigrant parents of children born in the U.S. or legal residents could also receive work documents and, as a result, should not worry about deportation.

In addition, an Obama administration official with "direct knowledge" of the executive action plans said changes will come for the 12,000 federal immigration agents. While the White House has yet to publicly comment on the authenticity of the report, an unnamed official said opportunities for immigrants will be expanded for those with "high-tech skills."

Republicans have said an imminent government spending bill could stop Obama from issuing the executive action. Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Mike Lee of Utah have supported the concept of using the spending bill to block the president from deferring immigrants from deportation.

Sessions said, "Congress appropriates the money. That's a clear constitutional power. If Congress disapproves of the president providing ID cards for people who've been in the country illegally, then it should not appropriate money to fund it."

If the spending legislation fails to pass in Congress, the government will shut down on Dec. 11. Sessions has suggested a short-term spending bill could be passed and let the new Republican Senate of the 114th Congress confront the issue.

In a press conference Thursday after his confirmation as Senate Majority Leader, McConnell said the GOP "will not be shutting down" the government on immigration or on defaulting the national debt.

Obama, Democrats and Republicans have agreed that the U.S. immigration system is "broken," but a consensus on the issue has yet to be finalized. The U.S. Senate passed bipartisan immigration legislation in June 2013, but the House of Representatives has not picked up the bill for a debate and vote. As a result, Obama said he will issue an executive action if Congress continues to not present him a comprehensive immigration reform legislation to sign.

"I think it's fair to say that I've shown a lot of patience and have tried to work on a bipartisan basis as much as possible, and I'm going to keep on doing so," Obama said during a press conference after Election Day. "But in the meantime, let's figure out what we can do lawfully through executive actions to improve the functioning of the existing system."

The GOP leadership of Boehner and McConnell has warned the president on acting on immigration alone.

"It's like waving a red flag in front of a bull to say, 'If you guys don't do what I want, I'm going to do it on my own,'" McConnell said during his press conference after Election Day. "The president's done that on Obamacare, he's done it on immigration, and he's threatening to do it again."

The New York Times report noted Obama's immigration reform executive action could come as soon as next week.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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