A heckler standing just behind Barack Obama in San Francisco this week yelled to the President that he `` has the power to stop deportation . '' A clearly irritated Obama interrupted his speech and shot back that he does n't have that authority , saying the United States is `` a nation of laws . '' So , who 's right ? Federal immigration law provides for the deportation , or removal , of an individual under several circumstances -- including being in the country illegally , overstaying a legal visa , violation of criminal statutes or a number of other offenses â€ ” after a judicial process . But the administration has latitude in how to enforce those laws , though legal experts say exercising that discretion too broadly is fraught with political and legal land mines . Related : As Obama makes turn to immigration , protests that he 's not doing enough . Ju Hong , the 24-year old heckler , is a University of California , Berkeley graduate and a member of Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights Through Education , ASPIRE . After the event on Monday at a community center , the group insisted the President can use his executive authority to halt deportations . Hong and his group want Obama to stop all deportations , which they say creates a culture of fear among undocumented immigrants and breaks up families . Obama spokesman Josh Earnest pushed back , saying the President does not have that authority . `` As I think the President said rather definitively , there is also not an executive action that would address all of the concerns that that young man had raised , '' said Earnest Tuesday from Los Angeles . But that does n't convince May Liang , an organizer for ASPIRE . She told CNN Tuesday that she still thinks Obama `` blatantly lied '' when he said he did n't have the power to stop deportations . In a statement Monday , the group asked him for his `` legal analysis '' of why he ca n't stop deportations . Obama , however , stood firm . `` The easy way out is to try to yell and pretend like I can do something by violating our laws , '' Obama told Hong Monday . `` And what I 'm proposing is the harder path , which is to use our democratic processes to achieve the same goal that you want to achieve . But it wo n't be as easy as just shouting . It requires us lobbying and getting it done , '' he said . Obama told Univision In January that he 's `` required to follow the law , '' which makes it a misdemeanor to be in the country illegally . Those found guilty can be deported . But the President has exercised discretion on deportations in the past . In 2012 , he announced that the Department of Homeland Security 's Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not going to deport Dreamers , children of undocumented immigrants . And in August , he announced that parents would not deport parents caring for children . But still , he has been aggressive on that front . Obama has deported more people than any other president . For instance , 410,000 people were deported in 2012 compared to 116,000 in 2001 . Obama has shifted the type of immigrants targeted for deportation . While the administration of President George W. Bush targeted working immigrants by raiding workplaces , Obama is focusing on convicted criminals and `` egregious '' immigration violators , including recent border crossers and illegal re-entrants . Immigration and Customs Enforcement said 55 % of people deported last year were convicted criminals . Richard A. Boswell , immigration law professor at the University of California 's Hastings College of the Law , said the President is `` partially correct . '' It 's called prosecutorial discretion . The executive branch has the `` inherent power to choose which cases to act on , '' Boswell said . Think of the police . They can theoretically give someone driving four miles over the speed limit a ticket , but the police officer also has the ability to use discretion to give a warning instead . That 's the validation Obama used in his decision to halt deportations of youth and parents . But Philip Schrag , professor of public interest law at Georgetown Law School , said the President 's position is that putting an end to all deportations would `` abuse '' his discretion . Immigration law attorney Austin Gragomen said he thinks Obama `` has an obligation to enforce the law '' even if he chooses how and to what extent to enforce it . Boswell disagreed . He said the President can use his discretion to hold deportations . The President is `` making a tactical political move to force Congress to act . He could just as easily told Congress that he would withhold deportations on broad categories of cases pending their action , '' Boswell wrote in an e-mail . The Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform earlier this year , which includes a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States . The legislation has been stalled in the House and is unlikely to be taken up before the end of the year . The issue of deportations has n't just upset immigration advocates . The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee , Rep. Bob Goodlatte , R-Virginia , announced he would hold a hearing on the issue to investigate the President 's decision to not deport some people . The hearing is titled , `` The President 's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws . '' Related : 4 ways immigration reform still could happen - or not .
The heckler asked Obama to give his ` ` legal analysis '' for continuing deportations . The President said at San Francisco that he has to ` ` follow the law '' and say exercising executive discretion too broadly is fraught with political and legal land mines . Obama has deported more people than any other chief executive .