Washington (CNN) House Speaker John Boehner announced Tuesday plans to pursue legal action against the Obama administration in order to challenge President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration, CNN has learned.

Boehner told Republican House members at Tuesday morning's meeting he plans to take steps to file a lawsuit.

"We are finalizing a plan to authorize litigation on this issue -- one we believe gives us the best chance of success," Boehner said, according to a source in the room.

This means the House would have to take up a resolution to authorize a lawsuit -- as it did on Obamacare last year.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's spokesman called the decision "an embarrassing admission of failure" for not passing immigration legislation.

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