GOP Vows to Block Executive Action on Immigration

President Barack Obama is expected to sign an executive order on immigration as early as this week.

Meanwhile, the newly elected Congress, which is still months from being sworn in, is vowing to do what it takes to keep him from acting unilaterally.

"Talk about arrogance. Where was this president who used to say elections have consequences? We are talking about how can the Congress force the President to follow the law?" Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told NBC's "Meet the Press."

Republicans say the real fight isn't over immigration but the route the president is taking to get what he wants.

"There's an opportunity for us to get some things done here, and instead, the president is going down this unilateral path, and it's going to make it very hard for us to get anything done on immigration or any other issue for that matter," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Sunday.

The president's immigration overhaul is expected to exempt as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and grant them temporary work permits.

Democrats say they stand behind the president, arguing that Republicans have failed to take action on immigration.

But Republicans point out that the president could have acted in the past as well.

"He purposely said I'm going to wait until after the election because I know it's not going to be popular to grant amnesty to millions of folks here that are here illegally," Jindal charged.

"The president ought to let Republican Congress -- the Republican House and the Republican Senate -- come together with legislation that they put on his desk which relates to immigration. And he can veto it or not, but let the Congress and let this election have its say," former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told CBS's "Face the Nation."

Republicans say the president's plan is only a temporary solution and it won't bring about the reform that the American people want.

It's still unclear how lawmakers will oppose Obama, but some have hinted at blocking his spending.

"There's no reason that we can't fund all our immigration agencies and law enforcement agencies, yet not let the president use taxpayer dollars to get Social Security numbers and work permits and federal IDs to illegal immigrants," Sen.-elect Tom Cotton, R-Ariz., told Fox News Sunday.