The announcement has sparked much controversy, as critics called on the president for allegedly circumventing Congress and taking matters into his own hands to reform the broken immigration system. A number of opponents call Obama's action illegal.

Although GOP lawmakers are expected to protest vehemently, they may not have many tools at their disposal to undo an executive order.

Meanwhile, Congress needs to pass a broad spending bill before Dec. 11 to prevent a government shutdown. Although GOP lawmakers are steaming over Obama's immigration reform plan, their leaders would like to avoid shutting down the government over the issue, in the belief that such an action would backfire on them.

Obama's announcement came on the heels of a decisive GOP victory in last month's Congressional elections, when Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress in one of the most resounding GOP sweeps since World War II.

Further, Republicans are not expected to back down on the critical issue, as many of their constituents fear that the order will encourage even more illegal immigration into the United States.

Moreover, opponents of Obama's move worry that those covered under the presidential order could cost the United States millions of dollars in social benefits.

Many of the immigrants are not properly educated. Half of them have received education of no more than 12 years. Only a quarter of them have high school diplomas, according to figures from the Migration Policy Institute. More than half of them say they speak English "not very well" or "not at all."

Such figures bring worries that those covered under the order could eat up more in services than they would pay in taxes, as those with poor English skills and lower levels of education tend to earn less money./ with Chinaeconomicnet