President Barack Obama invoked the spirit of Thanksgiving on Monday as he urged House Republicans to back an immigration deal, saying he accepts chopping comprehensive reform approved by the Senate into pieces if that helps pass legislation.

“It’s Thanksgiving,” he told a crowd gathered in San Francisco’s Chinatown. “We can carve that bill into multiple pieces.

Obama was referring to a sweeping immigration-reform bill approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate in June. The Senate measure would permit undocumented immigrants to obtain temporary legal status within six months and to apply for U.S. citizenship in 13 years. It would also double the number of Border Patrol agents, from 20,000 to 40,000, and allocate billions of dollars to enhanced surveillance along the U.S.-Mexico border.

But House Republicans have refused to back the Senate bill. House conservatives are adamantly opposed to any measure that provides a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. They say it amounts to amnesty. House Speaker John Boehner has said he wants to take a step-by-step approach to immigration reform, and he recently ruled out the possibility of a House vote on immigration this year.

Despite Obama’s concession to Republicans on Monday, the president said a House immigration deal must include certain elements, including a path to legal status and eventually citizenship.

“If they want to chop that thing up in five pieces, as long as all five pieces get done, I don't care what it looks like,” Obama said. “Don’t let the minority of folks block something the country desperately needs. If we don’t tackle this now, then we’re undercutting our future.”

In a dramatic pause, Obama’s speech was interrupted by hecklers who implored him to stop deportations. “Stop deportations — yes we can,” a small group of protesters shouted. The president stopped Secret Service agents from removing the protesters.

“I respect the passion of these young people” Obama said. “But we’re a nation of laws. That’s our tradition.”