Did President Obama change the law or not when he unilaterally decided that millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. would be protected against deportation?

Until this week, both the president and White House staff insisted that Obama did not change the law and indeed could not change the law without the cooperation of Congress. Obama’s move was just a revision of executive branch enforcement priorities, according to the official White House line. A Justice Department memo backed up the president’s contention.