WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says "the moment is now" for Congress to act to overhaul the nation's broken immigration laws.

Obama spoke at a White House event hours before the full Senate holds its first votes on a landmark bill. The legislation would create a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million people in the U.S. legally.

The president says the Senate bill isn't perfect and no one will get everything they want. He says the bill would be a massive investment in border security and would give employers a reliable way to check whether those they're hiring are in the country legally.

Obama also says the pathway to citizenship offered in the bill would be "no cakewalk" for those already in the country illegally.