Mediaboss Marketing

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama, who will act on immigration reform by the end of the year, and his administration have not finalized plans on the issue, but he's aware of the general details in the expected plan, according to sources in the government and elsewhere who have been briefed on the White House plans.

At the end of the day it will all come down to what the legal team thinks can be defended in court, in addition to some political considerations, sources say.

"It's not like this is the Academy Awards," one official told CNN recently, meaning that the contents of the envelope are not a surprise.

Citing his legal authority as chief executive of the United States, Obama said in a press conference in Myanmar Friday that he would act on immigration reform by the end of the year.

"I believe that America is a nation of immigrants," the President said. Everybody agrees that the system is broken; there has been ample opportunity for Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration bill that would strengthen our borders, improve the legal immigration system and lift millions of people out of the shadows so that they are paying taxes and getting right by the law."

The senior White House official who spoke to CNN said that any executive action could come as soon as this week. The White House is also not going to yield to threats of a shutdown.

Asked Tuesday about a potential scenario in which Congressional Republicans would try to defund Obama's immigration action in an upcoming spending bill. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday that the president's actions would be within the law.

"We would consider it to be unwarranted for Republicans in Congress to try to undo that executive action using the budget process," Earnest told reporters, casting doubt that such an a move would "determine the outcome at all" of Obama's actions.

Warnings from Republicans are not affecting White House plans, according to the official, who said the White House is not going to command less in the executive action order just to appease furious lawmakers. Obama Friday encouraged Congress to act on immigration and said he told Republican congressional leaders that he was interested in working on a legislative solution, but without that he would act.

Continue reading here:
Clock counts down on immigration