On Thursday, President Barack Obama imposed sweeping immigration reform during a nationally televised speech, where he announced that he will use his executive power to immunize nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.

During his 15-minute speech, the president said that his executive actions will prioritize the deportations of felons, not families, and mandate certain undocumented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay taxes in order to be granted temporary stay.

Rather than offering a pathway to citizenship or legalization, the president stated that he will provide protection from deportation for parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. He also plans to expand the protection provided through the existing DACA program for unauthorized immigrants who arrived as children.

As of now, under DACA, undocumented youth are eligible to obtain a work permit and relief from deportation for a renewable two years at a time, if they meet certain criteria, which includes being under the age of 31 on June 15, 2012.

However, under Obama's executive action, the age limit is suspended, and anyone who was at least 16 when they entered will be eligible, regardless of their age today. DACA will also be renewable every three years, reports Colorlines.

While many immigration advocates applaud Obama's deferred action plan, others point out that it may be reversed by future presidents. Plus, it excludes about 5 to 6 million other unauthorized immigrants who will still be eligible for deportation. Since Obama came into office, a record-breaking 400,000 people are deported each year, notes Vox.

Republican leaders also slammed the president's plan for bypassing Congress.

"With this action, the president has chosen to deliberately sabotage any chance of enacting bipartisan reforms that he claims to seek," Speaker John Boehner said on Friday, according to The New York Times. "And as I told him yesterday, he's damaging the presidency itself."

Still, Obama defended his decision to bypass Congress and overhaul U.S. immigration policy, saying he was forced to act because Speaker Boehner refused to bring the 2013 bipartisan Senate bill on immigration a vote.

He attempted to rally support for his move in a speech at a Las Vegas high school, calling for undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows.