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WASHINGTON -- Immigration advocacy groups from across the country urged President Barack Obama on Thursday to act swiftly to "end the deportation enforcement machine" that is separating parents from their children.

In separate events, the groups called on Obama to move boldly "and without delay" on actions he first promised to take this summer if Congress failed to act on immigration reform. The president later pushed the deadline back to the end of the year, citing politics.

"The president took a major gamble in delaying executive action until after the election in an effort to save Democratic seats," said DREAM Act Coalition spokesman Cesar Vargas. "The gamble failed."

Latino voters "spurned Democrats" in key states like Colorado and Nevada, Vargas said, "either voting independent or staying home because of broken promises the president committed."

The meetings came just two days after elections that swept Republicans into control of both houses of Congress and numerous governors' mansions.

Against that backdrop, Obama said Wednesday that he still plans to take whatever actions are within his authority to "improve the functioning of our immigration system." But he reiterated his "profound preference" that Congress act first on immigration reform.

"Before the end of the year, we're going to take whatever lawful actions that I can that will allow us to surge additional resources to the border, where I think the vast majority of Americans have the deepest concern," he said.

Obama did not provide any further details about actions he might take. But House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Thursday warned that any action the president takes on his own would "poison the well" for legislation in this Congress.

"He's going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path," Boehner said. "The American people made it clear on Election Day. They want to get things done, and they don't want the president acting on a unilateral basis."

But advocates at a jam-packed Alliance for Citizenship news conference Thursday voiced optimism that the president would do just that.

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Advocates tell Obama it's time to keep promises on immigration reform