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Hillary Rodham Clinton, former US Secretary of State, listens before delivering keynote remarks at the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves summit, Friday Nov. 21, 2014 in New York.

Bebeto Matthews, Associated Press

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NEW YORK Hillary Rodham Clinton voiced support Friday for President Barack Obama's use of executive actions to protect about 5 million immigrants from deportation, setting up a sharp contrast with Republicans on an issue that could play a leading role in the next presidential campaign.

"I think the president took an historic step and I support it," Clinton said in an appearance at the New York Historical Society, embracing her fellow Democrat's moves to address immigration.

The former secretary of state, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, said Obama's actions were in line with previous moves by Democratic and Republican presidents alike and urged Congress to "follow the lead" of a measure approved in the Senate in 2013. She also placed the efforts in the context of families, many of whom she said are longtime residents raising children and paying taxes.

"This is about people's lives," she said, adding that it was about "people who serve us tonight, who prepared the food tonight."

It was Clinton's first public comments on Obama's immigration orders, which have been harshly criticized by many Republicans in Congress who accuse Obama of overstepping his executive powers. Clinton issued a statement shortly after Obama's speech Thursday night expressing support.

Charging hypocrisy, the Republican National Committee released a Web video earlier in the day that included the audio of an April 2008 Clinton speech in which she criticized President George W. Bush's use of signing statements and other means "to transform the executive into an imperial presidency."

Clinton spoke about the immigration plan during an interview with Walter Isaacson, the biographer and CEO of the Aspen Institute, at the event. Clinton said she was studying the life and presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and discussed the need for Americans to find a "common purpose."

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Hillary Clinton backs Obama's use of executive actions on immigration