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Washington (CNN) -- Big Business isn't embracing President Barack Obama's decision to reform the immigration system by executive order, but the community's top lobbyists aren't joining Republicans in slamming Obama's announcement, either.

They just want the President and Congress to move forward on a permanent solution to fix a broken immigration system -- which they say can only happen through legislation.

Three top groups, which have descended on Capitol Hill to argue the economic benefits of an immigration overhaul, said arguments on the President's authority to shield millions from deportation should take a back seat to passing legislation in the next Congress.

Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that while Obama's executive actions "raise important legal and constitutional questions," Congress and the President should press ahead toward the goal of achieving bipartisan legislation.

"The debate over the president's announcement must not be allowed to forestall progress on critical priorities," Donohue said in a statement. "We call upon the president and lawmakers of both parties to enact common sense measures to provide the American economy with the workers it needs at all skill levels, while better securing our borders and dealing with undocumented immigrants."

The Chamber of Commerce and other business groups joined in an unlikely coalition last year with labor groups to urge Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform -- a partnership that has helped immigration advocates make headway in Congress.

Business Roundtable Senior Director Matt Sonnesyn, who leads the group's work to achieve immigration reform, said he was hopeful congressional Republicans could move past Obama's executive action and toward bipartisan legislation by the spring.

But Sonnesyn said Obama's decision to act unilaterally "certainly doesn't help us get to a solution" and said even after Obama's executive orders kick in, "our immigration system will still be broken."

"Certainly what the President did last night isn't going to make it easier for everyone to come together to fix immigration," Sonnesyn said. "After some of the initial emotion dials down from what's happened here, we'll all be able to look at this constructively."

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Big-business lobbyists want Obama to work on immigration

As Republicans challenge the legality of President Obama's unilateral action on immigration, Democrats are firing back with a challenge of their own.

"It is clear that they can complain, they can threaten, they can talk about lawsuits, cutting off funding, shutting down the government, in the extreme, even impeachment. But the real question is: Can they govern? Can they govern?" asked Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.

The GOP is weighing their options to undo the president's moves - "a bit of a threat to our democracy," as House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in a separate interview. But Democrats say their real focus should be on passing their own legislation, something they have been urging Republicans to do since the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill in 2013.

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Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, and Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, discuss President Obama's decision to act unilaterally on immigration.

"They have 180 days, starting January 1st, before the first person applies for a work permit under the president's executive authority. What I'd say to them, roll up your sleeves," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, who sparred with Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, in another interview on the topic on "Face the Nation." "You were sent to Washington to govern; you have a majority in the Senate, you have a majority in the House, and I am ready to sit down with my colleague and fix the problems that America is confronting."

But Gutierrez, one of the most ardent and prominent advocates for immigration reform in Congress, seemed to doubt it will happen. He said that when House Democrats and Republicans were trying to craft an immigration bill, Democrats didn't walk away even as the GOP sought to exclude gay families from the bill's provisions, leave out a path to citizenship, and break up reform into several smaller bills.

He said his GOP friends "mix things up" about the story of immigration reform in Congress this session.

Republican lawmakers, for their part, say the GOP can pass immigration legislation - but they need to stop the president first.

"Number one, I think we should censure the president of the United States, I think it's unfortunate that he did this, I think we need to lay out clearly why this is unlawful; I think we need to pass a funding bill that separates homeland security from that funding bill," said Labrador, adding that the executive action should have to go through a public comment period just like new regulations that are written by the administration.

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After Obama's immigration announcement, Dems challenge GOP to respond

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