I agree with your points on executive fiat and this legally being discussed. I don’t think however running out an idea with Americans who have no clue who Cruz is saying hey we should increase H1B quotas by 500% will sit well with a majority of Mericans struggling in a bad economy.
It sure doesn’t sit well here. Bad timing
There is a bit of a disconnect if you check the article. Notice that it is actually from mid-2013. We are now in 2015.
So, this is not just coming out. It's a very old article.
Also, Cruz was a very junior senator at that time, and he was still getting his feet on the ground in a lot of ways. If elected in 2012, then he didn't take office until Jan 2013, so he had only 5 months under his belt when he came up with this idea.
I suspect he would view it differently now. Sessions hates the idea, and Cruz now supports just about everything Sessions says on immigration.