Obama seeks Supreme Court aid for illegal immigrants

The Obama administration said yesterday it plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court decision that blocked President Barack Obama's executive actions aimed at shielding millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.

The Justice Department said it will appeal a 2-1 decision by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday affirming a lower court's decision halting Obama's immigration actions.

The legal challenge to Obama's actions was made by 26 Republican-governed states that contend the president exceeded his presidential powers by bypassing Congress and acting unilaterally.

Obama's executive orders, announced last November but put on hold by the courts, would let as many as 4.7 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States without the threat of deportation.

It was aimed mainly at helping people whose children are U.S. citizens.

The challenge succeeded in putting Obama's actions on hold just before they were due to go into effect in February.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said the 5th Circuit ruling was a "win for the checks and balances established by the Constitution."

The Obama administration said the president did not overstep his authority by asking the Department of Homeland Security to use discretion before deporting nonviolent illegal immigrants with U.S. family ties. "We continue to believe strongly in the legal power of the arguments we've been making for nearly a year now," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Questions remain over whether the Supreme Court will hear the case.