Immigration Reform 2014: What the President Can Do By Executive Order to Change Immigration

An executive order granting temporary work permits or some other immigration relief to millions of undocumented immigrants could come before November mid-term elections.

The reason President Barack Obama is looking to take executive action on immigration is because of the deadlock in Congress, as well as the surge in unaccompanied child migrants crossing the border, according to reports.

In total, there are some 11 million undocumented immigrants who would be affected by an executive orders.

The New York Times reported on Obama's recent comments: "While I will continue to push House Republicans to drop the excuses and act - and I hope their constituents will, too - America cannot wait forever for them to act," Mr. Obama said in a statement from the Rose Garden, in which he made plain his frustration about what he called Republicans' failure "to pass a darn bill."

One of the things President Obama is likely to do is grant temporary legal status to thousands of undocumented immigrants who are already in the country, and allow them to work while they are in the country. He could also increase the ability for immigration officials to return some recent immigrant home faster than usual.

As MSNBC.com reports, the executive order will probably stray far away from branding any large-form amnesty, allowing people to stay in the U.S. permanently. "Obama is expected to make sweeping changes to his administration's deportation policies in the face of growing resentment over legislative inaction on immigration reform. But the president is not asking for universal amnesty for all undocumented immigrants, and it is unlikely that he would be able to make any dent in providing a path to citizenship without congressional approval. If anything, the policy changes would grant work permits and enhance protections from deportations."

There's still no telling what may happen, given that Obama isn't planning on issuing any order until after summer, likely some time in October. But no matter what he does, it's almost a given that Republicans will be on the attack.

"Presidents do things all the time that push the envelope of statutory authority. To be worth any serious outrage, they need to be (a) significant and (b) fairly clearly beyond the scope of the president's powers. I don't think Obama has done anything like this yet, but if Republicans want to test that proposition in court, they should go right ahead. That's what courts are for," reported MotherJones.com.