In an assault on the rule of law, the Obama administration has not only put a stop to deportation proceedings against potentially hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens, but it has decided to grant many illegal aliens permits so they may work legally in the United States.

Congress has enacted no law granting the administration that authority. In fact, Congress has refused time and again to give amnesty to illegal aliens, and the president has no business going around Congress to offer amnesty.

The administration says it will "review" the cases of some 300,000 illegal aliens who are being processed in the United States' immigration courts. Those who have not been convicted of additional crimes since illegally coming to this country can be given permission to remain here indefinitely and to seek work permits.

That's an outrage!

Not only does it usurp Congress' legislative authority, but it formally adds large numbers of people to the U.S. workforce at a time when unemployment is already 9.1 percent! That's only going to depress wages and make it harder for U.S. citizens and lawful immigrants to find jobs.

And remember: The illegal aliens who will benefit from this decision have already been detained and are in our legal system. It is discouraging to immigration agents and other law enforcement officers who arrested the illegal aliens in the first place to learn that now many of them will be set free.

The administration says it is giving illegal aliens this reprieve so it can focus on deporting those who have committed violent crimes. But considering the president's long support for legalization of illegal invaders, it seems obvious that a broad amnesty is his real goal.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform rightly labeled the administration's actions favoring illegal aliens a "huge breach of the public trust."

That's exactly what it is, and the American people should be sure to express, in the 2012 election, their opposition to the president's flouting of the rule of law.