Jim Kuhnhenn

Many immigrants in the United States illegally who apply for work permits under President Barack Obama’s new executive actions would be eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits upon reaching retirement age, according to the White House.

In a broad test of his executive powers, President Barack Obama said Wednesday he will sidestep Congress and unveil administrative actions on immigration — measures that could spare from deportation as many as 5 million people illegally in the U.S. and set up one the most pitched partisan confrontations of his presidency.

President Barack Obama expressed confidence Wednesday about the ability to contain Ebola in the U.S., taking special note of the ongoing recovery of two nurses who contracted the disease and of others who were declared Ebola free after being exposed to the deadly virus.