Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said he had no regrets about immigration-related executive actions taken by the Obama administration in November, saying the undocumented immigrant population had to be “reckoned with.”

“I believe that the undocumented population in this country, at least half of which has been here more than 10 years, has to be reckoned with. We know they’re here, and they are not priorities for removal,” Johnson said. “I have what is in my judgment as a lawyer a very, very thoughtful opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel that we have the legal discretion to do what we did.”