The 237-190 largely party-line vote Wednesday was on an amendment to a spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans say Obama's moves amount to an unconstitutional overreach that must be stopped.

Republicans have been eager to take up immigration since Obama announced major changes in November, which enraged Republicans because they had just won control of the Senate and increased their majority in the House.

Republicans remain six votes shy of the 60-vote super-majority needed to advance most legislation in the Senate. The upper chamber could be reluctant to let immigration politics undermine funding of the Homeland Security Department, which has taken on renewed importance after the Paris terrorist attacks.

Homeland Security money expires at the end of February so House leaders have left themselves some weeks to reach a solution. But immigrant advocates have warned Republicans they risked alienating Latino voters who will be crucial to the 2016 presidential election.

With AP