President Obama will not now announce any plans to take executive action to change immigration policy until after the November mid-term elections, despite the fact that he was promising this summer that he would act before the end of the summer. Senate Democrats have warned that any bold executive action ran the risk of upending the chances of several Democratic incumbents running for reelection in southern states, where the President is not particularly popular.  Republicans must win six seats to take control of the Senate.

“When I take executive action, I want to make sure that it’s sustainable,” President Obama said recently.  “What I am saying is that I’m going to act because it’s the right thing for the country.  But it’s going to be more sustainable and more effective if the public understands what the facts are on immigration, what we’ve done on unaccompanied children on the southern border, and why it’s necessary.”

“The reality the president has had to weigh is that we’re in the midst of the political season and because of Republicans extreme politicization of this issue, the president believes it would be harmful to the policy itself and to the long-term prospects for comprehensive immigration reform to announce administrative action before the elections,” a White House official said.

“There is never a right time for the president to declare amnesty by executive action,” House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) said in a statement, “but the decision to simply delay this deeply controversial and possibly unconstitutional unilateral action until after the election – instead of abandoning the idea altogether – smacks of raw politics,” added Boehner.

Top Obama aides Valerie Jarrett and Cecilia Munoz have been making calls recently to the immigrant rights groups and labor organizations that had supported Obama’s push for comprehensive immigration reform in hopes of tamping down criticism in anticipation that President Obama would announce a delay.