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Obama plans to reform immigration without GOP

WASHINGTON — President Obama says he’s not waiting anymore for House Republicans to act on immigration and will take executive action to enact reforms.

In a fiery speech in the White House Rose Garden Monday, Obama slammed “the failure of House Republicans to pass a darn bill” and called out lawmakers who he said were “unwilling to stand up to the Tea Party in order to do what’s best for the country” by allowing an up-or-down vote.

“I held off on pressuring them for a long time to give Speaker [John] Boehner the space he needed to get his fellow Republicans on board,” Obama said alongside Vice President Joe Biden.

Obama said his move was prompted by word from Boehner that the House wouldn’t take up immigration legislation this year, roughly a year after the Senate passed an immigration-reform bill.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel responded: “Speaker Boehner told the president exactly what he has been telling him: The American people and their elected officials don’t trust him to enforce the law as written. Until that changes, it is going to be difficult to make progress on this issue.”

For his first action, Obama said he was moving resources from the interior to the southwestern border. He offered no further details.

His Cabinet was to report to him by the summer’s end on other actions he could take unilaterally.

The legislative collapse comes as Obama struggles with a flood of unaccompanied minors from Central America entering the country.

It also sets up a battle with congressional Republicans, who accuse Obama of going beyond his authority to take executive action on issues such as gay rights and equal pay for women and men.

Obama mentioned the influx of child immigrants, saying confusion about the current system was contributing to the problem.

“Our system is so broken, so unclear that folks don’t know what the rules are,” he said.

Obama also said he would continue to “reach out” to House Republicans despite his end-run.

“Maybe it’ll be after the mid-terms, when they’re less worried about politics,” he said.

Straying from prepared remarks, Obama noted Congress could still pass a bill to “supplant whatever I’ve done administratively.”

“Don’t just say no,” he added.

With Post Wire Services