TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- The Obama administration said Thursday that it is delaying a decision on the controversial Keystone pipeline expansion until at least 2013.

The pipeline has sparked protests across the country. Opponents citing environmental concerns. The pipeline is already underground in Kansas transporting oil from Canada to the gulf coast.

Congressman Tim Huelskamp opposed the president's decision, saying quote -- “at a time when long-term unemployment is the worst it has been since the great depression, it is wrong for president Obama to erect another politically-motivated bureaucratic hurdle to block job creation in America.... Mr. Obama should help the 25 million Americans looking for work."