Until a bill is passed, the lawmakers are asking Obama to suspend the deportation of non-criminal immigrants who would qualify for legalization and later citizenship under the bipartisan immigration-reform bill passed by the Senate in June.
They also want him to expand a program that offers protection from deportation to young undocumented immigrants known as dreamers to include their parents.
“The president has the power, the legal authority, as he did with DACA, that gives him the authority to do much more than he is doing,” Grijalva said in a conference call Monday, referring to Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.