Here's the middle ground approach that would have avoided Obama Exec Order

Jon Huntsman, former Republican presidential candidate and co-founder of No Labels, a bipartisan group that features about 90 members of Congress, explained this week how the Senate in 2013 managed to craft an immigration reform bill that garnered strong support. 

In a Q&A with Lanny Davis, a former Bill Clinton adviser, Huntsman said:
"Republican senators wanted to secure our borders. Many Democrats agreed. Democrats wanted to grant legal resident status to undocumented workers who have been here for years, raised families and been good citizens, and to have a pathway to citizenship for these people some day after paying fines and working years to earn the privilege. "
"Many Republicans agreed.
"Voila — this is essentially the Senate bill that was passed on a bipartisan vote." 

Davis, writing for The Hill earlier this week, urged House Speaker John Boehner to take action to avoid President Obama's forthcoming executive order on immigration.

"Why not make this a turning point and prove that Republicans can join with Democrats and ... work together! Follow the No Labels problem-solver approach! 

"If you do, this last action of the 113th Congress will be a historical pivot from dysfunction and gridlock to a Congress that America can believe in again, and show our ability as a democracy to solve problems."

At this point, with about eight hours until the president's speech, Boehner certainly will not intervene. But what is about to happen was avoidable.