Obama: will “act on my own” on Immigration

President Obama vowed Monday to bypass Congress and pursue unilateral changes to the country’s immigration system, defying House Republicans who say his executive actions are part of the problem. The president, speaking in the Rose Garden, said he is forced to go it alone because the House has failed to act on a comprehensive overhaul. He said Speaker John Boehner informed him last week the House will not vote on an immigration bill this year.

“America cannot wait forever for them to act,” Obama said. He said he’s launching a new effort to “fix as much of our immigration system as I can, on my own, without Congress.”

The president’s announcement is sure to infuriate congressional Republicans. Obama is pushing for new executive actions in defiance of Boehner’s vow last week to pursue a lawsuit against the president over alleged executive overreach. Even before Monday’s announcement, Boehner and his colleagues alleged that the president has gone too far in making changes without Congress to immigration policy, the Affordable Care Act, environmental regulations and other issues.

This new push would go further still.

In a written statement, Boehner called Obama’s announcement “sad and disappointing,” and said executive orders “can’t and won’t fix these problems.”

During his remarks in the Rose Garden, Obama cited the current surge of illegal immigrant children crossing the southern border and said the “crisis” should underscore the need to pass a comprehensive bill. But Boehner claimed that it was Obama’s past executive orders — those easing deportations for some illegal immigrants — that “have led directly to the humanitarian crisis along the southern border.”

Boehner said “additional executive action from this president isn’t going to stem the tide of illegal crossings, it’s only going to make them worse.” He also referred to last week’s Supreme Court ruling that Obama overstepped in making recess appointments, saying the court “reminded us” that there are “sharp limits” to presidential power.

More From FoxNews: