Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday that the Obama administration's new policy of not deporting young illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. before age 16 did not amount to amnesty.

"This is not immunity, it is not amnesty, it is an exercise of discression," Napolitano said in a conference call with reporters on Friday. "I believe this action is the right thing to do."

Napolitano said she will continue to urge Congress to pass the DREAM Act and reform U.S. immigration policy.