Obama: I'll veto bill that reverses immigration actions

David Jackson | USA TODAY

President Obama vowed Wednesday to veto any Republican bill that tries to reverse his new immigration policies, and added that "I am confident that I can uphold that veto."

Obama made the declaration after meeting with six young people he said would be deported if some congressional Republicans have their way.

The president also attacked Republicans over another strategy designed to pressure him into changing his executive actions on immigration, a threat to cut off the Department of Homeland Security budget at the end of the month.

"There's no logic to that position," Obama said, noting that Homeland Security is responsible for patrolling the nation's borders. "Why would you cut off your nose to spite your face?"

The six young people who spoke with the president are able to stay in the United States because they were brought into the country by their parents. Known as "Dreamers," this group falls under an Obama executive action known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Obama said his actions are enabling these and other young people to be successful in the United States. He said his guests "represent the very best that this country has to offer."

Other immigration actions are at the heart of a major budget dispute between the White House and Republicans.

The current spending plan funds the Department of Homeland Security only through the end of the month, as Republicans try to pressure Obama into changing actions that would defer deportations for millions of migrants, including the parents of Dreamers.

Congressional Republicans have questioned the legality of Obama's actions, saying they amount to amnesty to people who are violating the law.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said GOP lawmakers don't to shut down Homeland Security: "What we want to do is we want to block the president's executive actions that were beyond the law and beyond his ability to make."