WASHINGTON — President Obama granted amnesty on Wednesday, but Republicans did not issue dire warnings of a constitutional crisis.

“Today, I’m taking an action fully within my legal authority — the same kind of action taken by Democrats and Republican presidents before me — to spare the lives of two turkeys, Mac and Cheese, from a terrible and delicious fate,” Mr. Obama said, using his executive action last week shielding five million immigrants from deportation as a theme of sorts for the annual White House turkey pardon.

As the president spoke in the grand, marbled Entrance Hall of the White House, a large white turkey strutted and fluffed its copious plumage on a mat nearby.

That was Cheese, a 20-week-old, 48-pound turkey raised (antibiotic-free, the health-conscious White House said) in Fort Recovery, Ohio. Cheese won out over Mac, a similar bird, in a Twitter contest to select which would take the title of National Thanksgiving Turkey.