The Republicans were caught off guard last Friday by the Obama administration’s change in immigration policy. On Tuesday, Republican’s refined their immigration message in order to lessen the political bounce the president may get during what has been a very difficult time in his campaign for reelection.

The counterattack by the Republicans was led by presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney who accused the President of undermining possible long-term reform on immigration by taking a partial step in stopping the deportations of 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States when they were young children.

Romney said that Obama could have attempted to have immigration reform earlier during his term, when all of Congress was controlled by the Democrats. Romney said that Obama wants to make sure his base is shored up with Hispanic voters. He noted that the campaign for Obama has struggled of late due to disappointing jobs reports and what he described as self-inflicted wounds.

John Boehner, the Republican House Speaker said that the move by Obama has put everyone in an awkward situation. He said now it will be more difficult to work together in a bipartisan way to find a permanent solution.

Boehner also said, as have many others, that the change in immigration policy might violate the Constitution and that no attempt was made by the president to work with the Congress. Henry Reid the Majority leader of the Senate called the criticism by the Republicans both phony outrage and hypocritical.

A poll on Tuesday showed a good majority of voters back the change by Obama, including the independent voters who are highly coveted.