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Some of Capitol Hill's top immigration reform advocates on Friday praised President Obama's recent signal that he may ease the pace of deportations, welcoming the reprieve for families who fear separation but warning that the "temporary" fix would not remove the need for more comprehensive reform.

As their impatience about the lack of congressional action on the issue builds, immigration reform proponents have increasingly pressed the White House to act unilaterally to halt deportations of immigrants whose only crime was living in the U.S. without documentation.

The president has insisted that such a fix would be outside the scope of his authority, but during a meeting on Thursday with Hispanic lawmakers at the White House, Mr. Obama announced a review of his administration's deportation policies. According to a White House readout of the meeting, the president said he'd directed the Department of Homeland Security to "do an inventory of the Department's current practices to see how it can conduct enforcement more humanely within the confines of the law."

"The President emphasized his deep concern about the pain too many families feel from the separation that comes from our broken immigration system," the statement added.

On Friday, the president will meet with representatives from organizations that support immigration reform at the White House to consult on the way forward. Among the participants expected at the meeting is Janet Murguia, the head of the National Council of La Raza, which last week branded Mr. Obama the "deporter-in-chief" due to his administration's rapid pace of deportations.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said after the meeting on Thursday that the White House had been "dormant for too long," but he added, "It is clear that the pleas from the community got through to the president."

And on Friday, Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., the highest-ranking Latino Democrat in the House, said he would "take the president up" on his administration's offer to consult with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) during its review.

The CHC, Becerra said, would push for "as much as we can within the framework of the law -- ways that we can make sure that, while we push to get a vote in the House of Representatives from Republicans, that we also try to protect families that don't deserve to be suffering."

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White House spokesman Jay Carney says potential executive action on deportations is no substitute for comprehensive immigration reform.

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Immigration reform advocates welcome Obama's review of deportations