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Still, the weight of the movement is pressuring the president, who called on Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to review the administrations enforcement policies for humane solutions within the scope of existing law.

This move by the president, who in the past deemed himself powerless to act alone to suspend deportations, has won him praise among supporters of the overhaul. But critics of Obamas directive fear a hollowing-out of immigration laws should proponents get their way on deportations.

Obama told Hispanic lawmakers in a meeting two weeks ago he was ordering the policy review out of a deep concern... for the pain these families face.

Johnson is already making the rounds to lawmakers to learn their views ahead of a meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus next month. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., met with Johnson on Tuesday and other advocates will do the same in the coming weeks to discuss strategies to dial back the deportation of non-criminals and relieve, as much as possible within existing law, the family separation and pain that increasing deportations have caused in recent years, Gutierrez said.

Thats precisely the problem for Ira Mehlman, media director at the restrictionist Federation for American Immigration Reform, who said, there is almost nothing to dial back.

The administration has all but halted the deportation of non-criminals, Mehlman said.

Obamas record of deportations, the most of any administration, is about to hit 2 million. Some 400,000 people are deported each year, according to data from the Pew Research Center. These numbers have earned Obama the title of deporter-in-chief among immigrant groups.

But the statistics are rather deceptive -- something the president himself has admitted -- since more than half of the people counted as deported by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency were apprehended at the border. Those numbers wouldnt have been counted by past administrations, Johnson confirmed to lawmakers two weeks ago. According to ICE data, only 133,551 of the 368,644 removals in fiscal 2013 were immigrants caught inside the U.S. Moreover, 82 percent of the immigrants removed from within the U.S. were previously convicted of crimes. The administration has said its focus is to deport criminals and those who pose a security threat.

Nearly all of those were people who met the administrations own priority criteria, Mehlman said. He criticizes advocates on the other side like Gutierrez for blaming the impact of deportation on families on the execution of the law instead of those who violate it.

In every other area of law enforcement, we hold the people who broke the law responsible for any adverse consequences on family members, Mehlman said. Moreover, people who are deported have the option of taking spouses and children with them.

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Immigration Reform: Amid 'Deceptive' Statistics, Opponents Worry About Law's Effectiveness