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Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette is a CNN contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group. Follow him on Twitter: @rubennavarrette. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

San Diego, California (CNN) -- Mr. President, the midterm elections are over. You're out of excuses. Your stalling has worn thin. And the hour is late.

It's time to keep your word and do what you promised to do before the end of summer use the executive power of the presidency to fix part of the immigration system and offer relief to millions of undocumented immigrants.

Of course, there's a lot of debate about what that "fix" would look like. You seem to be considering two specific goals: decreasing the number of deportations and strengthening border security.

Ruben Navarrette Jr.

The former might mean giving temporary work permits to 1 or 2 million people. The latter is low-hanging fruit, since both Democrats and Republicans are always eager to throw money at the border by hiring more agents and building more walls.

The trouble is that activists want a lot more -- a total moratorium on deportations, and the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program beyond its intended beneficiaries (undocumented young people brought as children) to include the parents of DACA recipients and parents with U.S.-born children. They want work permits for as many as 4 or 5 million people.

Frankly, as I've said before, I don't think any of this is going to happen. This week's election is over, but there's always another series of elections around the corner. Given that many Americans still resist the idea of rewarding illegal activity by conferring legal status to the undocumented, for other Democrats there would be a significant downside to using executive action. Who would worry? For one, probably Hillary Clinton, who is eager to run for president in 2016 but not eager to take the blame for executive action taken by the previous president.

Besides, Mr. President, let's look at what you told reporters in this week's press conference. You said, "I have no doubt that there will be some Republicans who are angered or frustrated by any executive action that I may take."

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Immigration reform: Obama, GOP, get on it (Opinion) - CNN.com