Hillary Clinton was against it before she was for it.

"Hillary Rodham Clinton says she supports President Barack Obama's executive actions to protect about 5 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, calling it a "historic step" and urging Congress to pursue a measure approved by the Senate last year."

"This is about people's lives," she said Friday during an appearance at the New York Historical Society, adding that it was about "people who serve us tonight, who prepared the food tonight."

"I think the president took an historic step and I support it," the former secretary of state said in her first public comments on the issue.

Charging hypocrisy, the Republican National Committee released a Web video earlier in the day that included the audio of an April 2008 Clinton speech in which she criticized President George W. Bush's use of signing statements and other means "to transform the executive into an imperial presidency."