1:23
President Obama has invited senior lawmakers to the White House tonight for dinner to explain his immigration decision. Earnest confirmed Obama will dine tonight with a group of 18 top Democrats from the House and Senate.
The most controversial aspect of Obama’s planned action is likely to be an order to, on a temporary basis, exempt from deportation and grant work permits to as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough is being dispatched to Capitol Hill on Thursday for lunch with Senate Democrats, a move that presaged the announcement.
On Wednesday, Democrats took to the Senate floor to defend President Obama’s forthcoming executive action, saying the House could have avoided it by passing immigration reform themselves.
\"I’m glad he’s going to in the next couple of days for sure to use his constitutionally established authority to fix our broken immigration system as much as possible,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., added: \"The dithering and dawdling on the House side is particularly perplexing because our bill would achieve so many goals that republicans claim are part of their agenda.\"
ABC's Devin Dwyer and Arlette Saenz contributed reporting.
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