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President Barack Obama, who will act on immigration reform by the end of the year, has not reviewed final administration recommendations on immigration but is aware of the general details in the expected plan, says a senior White House official who is traveling with the President in Myanmar.

"It's not like this is the Academy Awards," said the official, 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 next week. What's clear, said the official on Friday, is that the President is not going to act to bypass lawmakers and implement changes on his own while he is overseas. The White House is also not going to yield to threats of a shutdown.

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.

"I indicated to (House) Speaker (John) Boehner several months ago that if in fact Congress failed to act I would use all the lawful authority that I possess to try and make the system work better. And that's gonna happen, that's gonna happen before the end of the year," said Obama.

The senior White House official said that before issuing any order the president will review his administration's proposals for extending deportation relief to undocumented immigrants with American-born children and those who entered the United States as children themselves.

Another senior administration official told CNN that the main contours of the executive action are three-fold: direct immigration agents to allow parents of children who are American citizens to obtain documents that allows them to stay in the United States legally, protect illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children and make clear deportation should still be the policy for convicted criminals

Though the general details of the plan are known, it is still in flux, and may change by the time it is announced, according to two other sources briefed on the subject who shared more in-depth details under consideration with CNN.

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Immigration waiting game could end soon