Did 90,000 illegal immigrants really get Social Security numbers? GOP senators demand answers.

Sens. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) are demanding to know how many illegal immigrants have already received Social Security numbers under President Barack Obama's 2012 immigration action, and his new action from late last year.

Sasse and Sessions wrote to Social Security Administration Commissioner Carolyn Colvin on Thursday to ask for that information, and said they believe tens of thousands of illegal immigrants already have a Social Security number.

Carolyn Colvin, who runs the Social Security Administration, has been asked by Republicans how many illegal immigrants have Social Security numbers. They believe as many as 90,000 received numbers under Obama's 2012 immigration action. Image: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

"It is our understanding that through January 8, 2013, the Social Security Administration had granted approximately 90,000 Social Security Numbers (SSNs) to non-citizens who were granted deferred action pursuant to the president's 'Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" (DACA) program,' " they wrote.

Under DACA, which was announced in 2012, younger illegal immigrants who were in the United States as of 2007 could apply for protected legal status, and were allowed to work. More than 600,000 people successfully applied under DACA.

The letter from Sasse and Sessions asked how many people applied for and received Social Security numbers under Obama's 2012 program.

Last November, Obama expanded the program to let anyone apply if they were living in the United States since 2010. Obama also created a new program for illegal immigrant parents and legal guardians of U.S. residents and citizens.

Both of those measures have been blocked due to a court challenge against Obama's action. Still, the two senators asked how many have applied for Social Security numbers under this new expansion, and how many received a number since then.