WASHINGTON — President Obama announced sweeping new executive actions on immigration reform Thursday that will likely set up the White House for a battle with the Republican-controlled Congress, but the produce industry hopes it will serve as a catalyst for a legislative fix.

During his prime-time televised speech, Obama criticized the House for failing to hold a vote on the Senate-passed bill, which he called a compromise.

President Obama delivered an address to the nation on immigration, from the East Room of the White House, Nov. 20, 2014. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza) "Are we a nation that tolerates the hypocrisy of a system where workers who pick our fruit and make our beds never have a chance to get right with the law?" he asked.

"Now, I continue to believe that the best way to solve this problem is by working together to pass that kind of common sense law," he continued. "But until that happens, there are actions I have the legal authority to take as President — the same kinds of actions taken by Democratic and Republican presidents before me — that will help make our immigration system more fair and more just," he said.

The package of executive actions the White House range from shifting more resources to the border to creating a new mechanism for undocumented workers who have lived in the U.S. for more than five years to work legally to providing portable work authorization for high-skilled workers to creating a new task force to look at visa modernization.

The package, however, does not address fixes to the guest worker program the national agriculture industry relies upon.

The speech prompted outcry from Republicans.

"The American people want both parties to focus on solving problems together, they don't support unilateral action from a president who is more interested in partisan politics than working with the people's elected representatives," said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

Produce groups said they hoped the latest development would engage Congress on the issue, rather than focus lawmakers on a short-term response.

"We cannot yet assess the full impact of the president's actions on agriculture, but we know this: Congress must reassert its constitutional authority to make laws and pass immigration reform legislation critical to the needs of our industry and the nation," Western Growers President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Nassif said in a statement prior to the address. "Some in Congress will argue that the president's action must be met with a legislative response to block bad policies, but preventing the implementation of executive actions alone is not enough. These actions by the president should also serve as a catalyst for Congress to lead by passing meaningful immigration reform legislation."

The Agriculture Workforce Coalition also reiterated the need for Congress to act on immigration reform.

"As we look forward to the start of the new Congress in January, we strongly urge the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, Congress and the administration, to come together and pass legislation that both deals with the reality of the current agricultural workforce and recognizes the need for a new, market- based visa program to meet farmers' future labor needs," it said in a statement.