All eyes on how Republicans will react to Obama short-term fixes

President Barack Obama’s bold executive actions last night, helping five million long-term illegal migrants in the US, are a sticking plaster compared with the kind of surgery the immigration system requires.

His go-it-alone approach caps years of frustration with congressional gridlock and Republican opposition to a broader plan of putting the country’s 11 million undocumented on a path to citizenship.

Last night’s announcement has the potential to leave a historic, legacy-shaping stamp on his presidency - far exceeding what any of his most recent predecessors have done for immigrants by way of executive order.

Exercising prosecutorial direction over the country’s immigration enforcement officials, Obama is helping a swathe of the population.

About four million people, more than a third of all illegal immigrants in the country, will be granted a temporary reprieve from deportation and a new legal status allowing them to work in the country under a scheme to benefit undocumented parents of citizens and legal residents.

Unilateral actions

Further measures to assist the six million other undocumented migrants may prove tricky to achieve as his unilateral actions announced last night threaten to ruin any prospect of immigration laws passing by turning Republicans even further against him.

They oppose the president not so much over the issue of immigration but for bypassing their authority in Congress, claiming that what he has done is illegal. This will weaken the chances of both sides finding common ground.

"Potus [or President of the United States] should be pressuring Congress to govern in tandem - preemptive act on immigration provides cover/cause for Republican unilateralism," said the foreign policy expert and former Northern Ireland peace talks chairman Richard Haass in a tweet.

The big "takeaway" from last night is less about the details of what Obama announced - the White House had signposted his plans in detail well in advance - but how Republicans will react.

Reluctant to take the nuclear option again of shutting down the US government over their demands - as they did over the Obamacare health law last year - Republicans are pondering how best to respond to the president’s executive orders. Strong threats of legal action, impeachment and even violence have flown from their quarters.

There was hard-talking Republican rhetoric last night, with House Speaker John Boehner saying that Obama was acting like a "king" or "emperor" by resorting to unilateral action. It remains to be seen whether these extreme words will be matched by extreme actions.

‘Constitutional irresponsibility’

Republican opposition is driven by Obama’s apparent political motivation to play to a key constituency and what they see as constitutional irresponsibility in the president governing by fiat.

“Since one irresponsible action does not cancel out another, few believe Republicans will head down the path of a government shutdown or impeachment,” said Manus Cooney, a former aide to a Republican senator and a lobbyist, who has worked on immigration.

Obama's decision comes two weeks after Republicans scored major victories over the president's Democratic Party in the midterm elections and six weeks before Republicans add control of the Senate to an even bigger majority in the House of Representatives.

Republicans could make Obama’s life hellish by suing him over his executive actions, limiting the funds to put the immigration changes into effect and, more generally, block his candidates for key positions.

Moral high ground

Obama seemed content to try to dare the Republicans into action, taking the moral high ground on the issue.

Evoking America’s past as a nation of immigrants, Obama, in his 15-minute address, talked about the millions who can now “come out of the shadows”.

He urged Republicans who question the wisdom of his actions to “pass a bill”.

He referred to Astrid Silva, an immigrant whom he will meet on a visit to a Las Vegas high school today where he is selling his initiatives.

In a case that will resonate with many illegal Irish in the US, Obama said that Silva, who was brought to the US when she was four, was unable to return to Mexico to attend the funeral of her grandmother and yet today she is a college student working on her third degree.

Undocumented Irish

Eligible undocumented Irish wishing to attend funerals and more family occasions back in Ireland will be buoyed by new provisions - yet to be fully clarified - on easing travel restrictions outside the US.

The administration plans to grant temporary permission and waivers on re-entry bars so they can travel outside the US - pending applications for new legal status - without fear of not getting back in.

Obama cited scripture in his primetime address to explain his “nation of immigrants” philosophy.

“We shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger - we were strangers once too,” he said.

He will be praying that Republicans don’t make strange to an even greater extent and obstruct him as he pushes for far deeper and more lasting repairs to a “broken” immigration system.