It looks "increasingly likely" that Republicans will take the six seats they need to gain control of the Senate in this year's midterm elections New York Times political correspondent Jonathan Martin told CNN host John King.
"It's a tough year for Democrats in the Senate," Martin said. "The fact is that when these polls look at folks who will vote, likely voters--it looks more grim for Democrats."
Martin said Obama's decision to delay executive action on immigration reform was meant to take pressure off Senate Democrats whose approval ratings have suffered due to the president's own deteriorating poll numbers.
"The Democrats in the Senate were saying to President Obama, in effect, 'It's your numbers that are dragging us down so much this year. This is something you can control. Don't make it worse for us,'" Martin said.
"The president deferred to their wishes, at least on the timing of this."