Writing in a post on Facebook hours after President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the decision, Obama called the decision "cruel and self-defeating."

"To target these young people is wrong -- because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating -- because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel," said Obama, who earlier pledged that he would only speak out against Trump if his signature policies were undone by Trump.

In the statement, Obama also said that Trump's latest decision was political.

 "It's a political decision, and a moral question," Obama wrote. "Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn't threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us."

Trump's decision will put an end the Obama-era program that has prevented the deportation of immigrants illegally brought to the U.S. as children, putting in legal limbo about 1 million people who consider themselves Americans.

Trump will delay the end of the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, for six months in the hope that Congress can pass legislation to codify the protections President Barack Obama created. In a tweet Tuesday night the president said he’d revisit the issue if lawmakers fail to take action by then.

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