Obama defends immigration executive actions

President Obama is rejecting suggestions that he has changed his position on executive power, and arguing that his new actions on immigration are necessary.

Reminded by ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he once said 'I'm not an emperor" and "I am out of administrative flexibility" when it comes to immigration, Obama said he was referring to the problem overall.

"What is absolutely true is that we couldn't solve the entire problem and still can't solve the entire problem," Obama told ABC's This Week, again calling on Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration bill.

Obama said the government will now "prioritize" between "felons" who are in the country illegally, and family members who are related to people who are already U.S. citizens.

The actions Obama took last week could defer deportations for up to 5 million migrants. There are estimates of more than 11 million people who are in the country illegally.

House Speakers John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other GOP lawmakers say Obama is acting like an emperor, and has wrecked any chance of a bipartisan agreement on immigration. Some Republicans, including officials in a number of state, have vowed legal action and legislative responses in response to Obama.

"Essentially, he's gotten in the job of counterfeiting immigration papers, because there's no legal authority to do what he's doing," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., speaking on Fox News Sunday.

Cruz added, "the president now is claiming unilateral authority the Constitution doesn't give him."

In his ABC interview, Obama said he acted because House Republicans have refused to vote on a bipartisan bill passed in the Senate.

"Congress has a responsibility to deal with these issues and there are some things that I can't do on my own," Obama said. "What I do have is the legal authority to try to make the system better. Given the resource constraints that we have, we have to prioritize."

ABC taped the interview Friday, and broadcast it Sunday morning.

As for executive actions in general, Obama said: "The history is that I have issued fewer executive actions than most of my predecessors, by a longshot. The difference is the response of Congress. And specifically the response of some of the Republicans."