Obama calls Supreme Court immigration decision ‘heartbreaking’

President Obama said today that the Supreme Court’s decision to block his immigration executive action was “heartbreaking” and “takes us further from the country that we aspire to be.”

The Supreme Court’s 4-4 deadlock blocked the Obama administration policy that would have offered more than 4 million undocumented immigrants a chance to remain in the country without fear of deportation.

The tie vote means the benefit for undocumented immigrants is on hold as the case returns to the lower court in Texas that initially froze the action. It’s now unlikely the Obama administration program will go into effect.

The White House maintains that the states didn’t have the right to bring the case forward in the first place.

Texas took the lead for Republican-dominated states that challenged President Obama’s executive action announced in November 2014.