President Obama gives young illegal immigrants a reprieve - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

In a rose garden ceremony President Obama announced he's signed a new executive order that will affect as many as 800,000 young illegal immigrants who have lived in fear of being deported.

Effective immediately they can request a work permit to stay in the country legally if they came to the United States as children, or under the age of 30, are in school or the military and haven't broken the law.

"It makes no sense to expel talented young people who for all intents and purposes are Americans," Obama said. "This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of hope to talented, patriotic young people."

The president says he's acting because Congress won't. But Republicans are calling it a power grab.

During a taping of FOX Chicago Sunday Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger told me the president is acting unilaterally because he couldn't get the dream act through congress.

"The problem is right now using executive orders. He's basically brought the executive branch in and said 'we're going to make policy ourselves. We're going to make laws ourselves.' This needs to be debated in Congress." Kinzinger said.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin praised the president for what he called "political courage" and a "historic humanitarian moment in American history.

"It is an opportunity for us to demonstrate to the world the values and caring of a great nation. And equally important it gives to these young people these young men and women, a chance to be part of our future," Durbin said.

But some Republicans call it a political stunt by a President courting the critical Hispanic vote. At least one Republican congressman says he plans to sue the Obama administration to try to stop the executive order from taking effect.