A majority of Americans feel that President Barack Obama badly handled the way he gave amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants through executive order.
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CNN/ORC poll showed that 56 percent of Americans oppose Obama's unilateral action to delay deportations for the undocumented parents of children born in the United States, while only 41 percent said they supported the president going it alone without Congress.
As far as whether Obama has the legal authority for such a move, Americans were divided, with 49 percent of Americans saying the president is empowered by law to change the deportation process on his own, while 48 percent believe that he is breaking the law.
However, the poll showed that exactly half of America, 50 percent, supported Obama's new immigration policy outright while 22 percent said it didn't go far enough. Only 26 percent of Americans thought that the policy went too far.
The research also revealed that only 16 percent of Americans were “angry" about Obama's unilateral immigration action while another 27 percent said they were displeased. But one in four Americans said the measure did not affect them, and 41 percent were enthusiastic about it, CNN reported.
CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said the results were "a classic case of good news/bad news for both the president and the Republicans in Congress."
The
poll of 1,045 adults was conducted Nov. 21-23 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Incoming Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced his plans to
challenge Obama's executive action in court. But his lawsuit will not have the support of most Americans, with just 38 percent of Americans backing a suit while 60 percent are against such a legal maneuver.
The survey also showed that 75 percent of Americans feel the GOP should spend its time passing immigration reform legislation, which Obama has repeatedly urged Republicans to do, while just 21 percent said they should concentrate on overturning Obama's unilateral policy.
Overall, Americans are warming up to Obama's immigration policies, as shown by the fact that in September only 34 percent of respondents approved of his handling the issue while 44 percent gave him the thumbs up on immigration after last week's executive order.
Still, Obama cannot shift his disappointing approval numbers overall, which remained steady at 44 percent in the new poll compared to October's 45 percent.
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