President Barack Obama says there's no reason Congress can't pass an immigration overhaul by the end of summer.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama pushes a bipartisan bill the Senate is debating that creates a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people in the U.S. illegally.

Obama says the bill's opponents will do everything possible to stop it. He says they'll play politics, stoke fear and divide people.

“We know the opponents of reform are going to do everything they can to prevent that,” Obama warned.  “They’ll try to stoke fear and create division.  They’ll try to play politics with an issue that the vast majority of Americans want addressed.  And if they succeed, we will lose this chance to finally fix an immigration system that is badly broken.

He says if they succeed, the nation will miss a chance to fix a badly broken system. He's urging Americans to tell their lawmakers we must get immigration done.

In the Republican address, Rep. Luke Messer of Indiana says House Republicans have acted to prevent a student loan rate hike next month. He says Senate Democrats should stop stalling.

“Taking the politics out of student loans is a commonsense fix. It’s a plan that mirrors a proposal in President Obama’s budget,” Messer said Saturday. “Unfortunately, rather than seize this common ground and move the ball forward, the president resorted to campaign-style tactics, stepped out into the Rose Garden, and denounced the plan,” he added.


The Associated Press contributed to this report

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