US Supreme Court hearing for Barack Obama's refugee plan

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear US president Barack Obama’s attempt to resurrect his plan to shield more than 4m illegal immigrants from deportation, a unilateral executive action he took in 2014 to bypass the Republican-led Congress.

The dispute, to be argued before the court in the coming months, with a ruling due by the end of June, will be one of the centrepiece cases of the court’s current term.

Obama’s executive action was blocked by lower courts after Texas and 25 other Republican-governed states sued to stop it, contending he exceeded his presidential powers under the US Constitution.