President Obama’s unilateral normalization of relations with Cuba is modeled on his decision to bypass Congress and allow 5 million illegal immigrants to stay in the country. It is a strategy he will use again in 2015, testing the limits of his authority.

In the days since Obama announced that he is starting diplomatic talks with Havana, the White House has followed the same four-step defense as it did when Obama made the most sweeping change to the immigration system in decades.