Caterpillar CEO Douglas Oberhelman certainly seems to support President Obama's decision to loosen immigration rules.

Both Caterpillar and the economy as a whole will benefit from the ability to utilize the skills of more immigrants, he told CNBC.

"We're like everyone else trying to compete for the best brains in the world," Oberhelman said. "We want them to work for our company. We bring them in here, we educate, we give internships, co-ops."

But then five years later, "we send them home," Oberhelman said. And the same is true for Caterpillar's competitors.

"I'd like to keep them [immigrant workers] here," he said. "Not only that, but there's a huge hidden cost to the economy in this country. We have to embrace our economy. We need growth."

Japan provides evidence as to the disadvantage of keeping out immigrants, Oberhelman said. "They're dropping 20 million people in the next few years and have a dead economy. These people can help us grow the economy. It's a big piece of what we need to do."

Oberhelman isn't the only CEO advocating immigration reform. Richard Templeton, CEO of Texas Instruments, is another. "The economic case for reform is compelling," he wrote in The Dallas Morning News.

"The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that immigration reform would increase gross domestic product by 4.8 percent over 20 years. The Congressional Budget Office projects that reform-driven growth would add 9 million jobs over those same two decades."

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