Among the GOP's other options are suing the administration, again, or trying to block funding to implement Obama's plan directly. Boehner hasn't ruled out a lawsuit, but it would take time to be settled in the courts, and he knows that a more explicit assault on the new policy would never make it past the Senate until Republicans take control next month. "I think [lawmakers] understand that it's going to be difficult to take meaningful action as long as we've got Democratic control of the Senate," Boehner said.

A senior Republican aide said after the meeting that reaction from the party's rank-and-file was "pretty positive" but short of "overwhelming" in support. And in an indication that the sales job was not complete, Boehner told reporters that "no decisions have been made at this point" on how to move forward. By passing such a large spending measure rather than the kind of stopgap bill Congress has approved many times before, Republicans are trying to salvage months of bipartisan negotiations between the House and Senate appropriations committees. But the aide said some conservatives spoke up in favor of a short-term spending bill for the whole government, arguing that it would give Republicans more power over spending decisions once the Senate is in their hands in January.

The details may be different, but the dynamic is a familiar one for Boehner, who once again must navigate the difficult path between his own desire for pragmatism and the do-or-die fighting spirit of many of his members. Conservative Representative Tim Huelskamp scoffed at the plan as "a punt" at at event after the meeting, while Representative Joe Barton said, "on principle, we should not compromise."

Democrats and the Obama administration don't like the plan either, but whether they would risk the possible alternative of a shutdown by opposing it is unclear. GOP leaders presented the proposal while across Capitol Hill, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was defending the legality of Obama's immigration move at a hearing. He warned Republicans against adopting the leadership's plan to fund his department only temporarily, saying it would prevent him from hiring Secret Service agents to protect presidential candidates and from implementing other needed security improvements. "That is, in my judgment, a very bad idea for homeland security," Johnson said.

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