let. let's all go off-the-record for main. as you listen to president obama tonight. consider. this his speech tonight, telling the nation he is going alone, signing executive order is an

admission he failed. he failed every american. but he is not alone. so did every politician in the house and the senate because illegal immigration is not a sporting event for the political amusementment it's a serious problem with serious consequences. executive order that can't fix it. only a law can. this executive order is just political drama. it doesn't solve anything. it just injects more uncertainty into an already broken system. think about it. president obama signs executive order with a swipe of his pen and the next president comes along two years from now and get rid of it with a swipe of a pen. executive order doesn't deliver the certainty that we need for a very serious issue. tonight is just politics. just a way for political to poke his political opponents in the eye. if all of us want to solve this immigration problem for the nation they could. president obama not asking for air time tonight scurrying around strategizing for the response. instead, they would all be rolling up their sleeves and doing real work, solving the problem, not this silly

stuff. and that's my off-the-record comment tonight. thank you for being with us. stand by for fox news live coverage from the president's address. bill o'reilly picks up live coverage. go to gretawire and write your comments about the president's speech. ♪ ♪ hi, i'm bill o'reilly, thanks for watching us tonight. in just a few moments. the president of the united states will announce unilateral action on immigration very controversial deal as you know. joining us now from the white house ed henry. so the speech is out. i have read it. you have read it what's the headline to you, ed? >> bill, the headline is the president goes it alone. he is trying to do it in order to spur action by republicans when they take over action by january. they t. may below up in face. the president already calling him an emperor. i'm told by the president's advisors he doesn't care. big meeting as soon as came

out from saudi arabia shah to hash this out. i'm told behind closed doors the president made the calculation republican also attack him if he waits a month. let's do it now. go on offense and define the terms of this debate. he will try to justify this move tonight by saying republicans failed to act on the last four years. what he will not mention tonight is democrats failed to act when they had control of the house, senate, and white house in 2009, 2010. and by the way, even before this speech has been given, two senate democrats, not one but two donley of indiana and manchin of west virginia come out and said it's a mistake and end run around congress. bill? >> the presidential will go it las vegas tomorrow. that's where he will sign the executive action, i understand. you will be with him, correct? >> no. i'm going to stay here and anchoring "special report," filling in for bret baier, i think the bottom line is he is going do that because is he going to sell it they know it's a tough policy so here is he. >> here is the president. >> tonight i would like to talk to you about immigration.

for more than 200 years our tradition of welcoming immigrants from around the world has given us a tremendous advantage over other nations. it's kept us youthful, dynamic, and entrepreneurial. it has shaped our character as a people with limitless possibilities. people not trapped by our past but able to remake ourselves as we choose. but today our immigration system is broken. and everybody knows it. families who enter our country the right way and play by the rules watch others throughout flout rules. see the competition exploit undocumented immigrants by paying them far less. all of us take offense to anyone who reasons the rewards of living in america without taking on the responsibilities of living in america. undocumented immigrants who desperately want to embrace those responsibilities see little option but to remain in the shadows.

risk their families being torn apart. it's been this way for decades. and for decades we haven't done much about it. when i took office, i committed to fixing this broken immigration system. and i began by doing what i could to secure our borders. today we have more agents and technology deployed to secure our southern border than at any time in our history. and over the past six years illegal border crossings have been cut by more than half: this summer there was a brief spike in unaccompanied children being apprehended at our border, the number of such children is actually now lower than it's been in nearly two years. overall, the number of people trying to cross our border illegally is add its lowest level since the 1970s. those are the facts. meanwhile, i worked with congress on a comprehensive fix. and last year 68 democrats, republicans, and independents came together to pass a bipartisan bill in the senate.

it wasn't perfect. it was a compromise. but it reflected common sense. it would have doubled the number of border patrol agents while giving undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship if they paid a fine, started paying their taxes, and went to the back of the line. independent experts said it would help grow our economy and shrink our deficits. had the house of representatives allowed that kind of bill, a simple yes or no vote, it would have passed with support from both parties. and today it would be the law. but for a year and a half now, republican leaders in the house have refused to allow that simple vote. now, i continue to believe that the best way to solve this problem is by working together to pass that kind of common sense law. but until that happens, there are actions i have the legal authority to take as president, the same kinds of actions taken by democratic

and republican presidents before me, that will help make our immigration system more fair and more just. tonight, i'm announcing those actions. first, we'll build on our progress at the border with additional resources for our law enforcement personnel. so that they can stem the flow of illegal crossings and speed the return of those who do cross over. second, i will make it easier and faster for high skilled immigrants, graduates, and entrepreneurs to stay and contribute to our economy. so many business leaders had proposed. third, we'll take steps to deal responsibly with the millions of undocumented immigrants who already live in our country. i want to say more about this third issue because it generates the most passion and controversy. even as we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. undocumented workers broke our immigration laws.

and i believe that they must be held accountable. especially those who may be dangerous: past six years betore stations of criminals are up 80%. and that's why we are going it keep focusing enforcement resources on actual threats to our security. felons not families. criminals, not children. gang members, not a mom who is working hard to provide for her kids. we will prioritize just like law enforcement does every day. but even as we focus on deporting criminals, the fact is millions of immigrants in every state, of every race, and nationality, still live here illegally. and let's be honest. tracking down, rounding up and deporting millions of people isn't realistically. isn't being straight with you. it's also not who we are as

americans. after all most of these immigrants have been here a long time. they work hard and often low paying jobs. they support their families. they worship at our churches. many of their kids are american born or spent most of their lives here. and their hopes, dreams and patriotism are just like ours. as my predecessor president bush once put it, they are a part of american life. now, here's the thing. we expect people who live in this country to play by the rules. we expect that those who cut the line will not be unfairly we warded. so we are going to offer the following deal. if you have been in america for more than five years, if you have children who are american citizens or legal residents, if you register, pass a criminal background check, and you are willing to pay your fair share of taxes, you will be able to apply to stay in this

country temporarily without fear of deportation. you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. that's what this deal is. now, let's be clear about what it isn't. this deal does not apply to anyone who has come to this country recently. it does not apply to anyone who might come to america illegally in the future: it does not grant citizenship or the right to stay here permanently or offer the same benefits that citizens receive? only congress can do that. all we are saying is that we are not going to deport you. i know some of the critics of this action call it amnesty. well, it's not. amnesty is the immigration system we have today. millions of people who live here, without paying their tax its or playing by the rules while politicians use the scare people and whip up votes at election time. that's the real amnesty. leaving this broken system the way it is.

mass amnesty would be unfair. mass deportation would be both common sense middle ground approach. if you meet the criteria. can you come out of the shadows and get right with the law. if you are a criminal, you will be deported. if you plan to enter the u.s. illegally, your chances of getting caught and sent back just went up. the actions i'm taking are not only lawful, kinds of actions taken by every single republican president and every single democratic president for the past half century. and to those members of congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better or question acting while congress has failed i have an answer, pass a bill. i want to work with both parties to pass a more

permanent legislative -- the day i sign that bill into law, the actions i take will no longer be necessary. meanwhile, don't let a disagreement over a single issue be a deal breaker on every herb. that's nau not how our democracy works and congress certainly shouldn't shut down our government again just because we disagree on this: americans are tired of gridlock. what our country needs from us right now is common purpose, a higher purpose. most americans support the types of restorms i have talked about tonight. but i understand the disagreements held by many of you at home. millions of us, myself included, go back generations in this country with ancestors who put in the painstaking work to become citizens. so we don't like the notion that anyone might get a free pass to american citizenship. i know some worry immigration will change the very fabric of who we are or take our jobs or stick it to

middle class families at a time when they already feel like they have gotten the raw deal for over a decade: i hear those citizens. that's not what these steps would do. our history and the facts show that immigrants are a net plus for our economy and our society. and i believe it's important that all of us have this debate without impugning each other's character. because for all the back and forth of washington, we have to remember that this debate is about something bigger. it's about who we are as a country. and who we want to be for future generations. are we a nation that toler rates the hypocrisy of a system where workers who pick our fruit and make our beds never have a chance to get right with the law? or are we nation that gives themselves a chance to make amends. take responsibility and give their kids a better future? are we a nation that accepts the cruelty of ripping

children from their parents' arms or are we a nation that values families? and works together to keep them together are we an education best and brightest only to send them home to countries that compete against us or a nation that encourages them to stay and create jobs here. create businesses here. create industries right here in america? that's what this debate is all about. we need more than politics as usual when it comes to immigration. we need reasoned, thoughtful, compassionate debate that focuses on our hopes and our fears. i know the politics of this are tough. but let me tell you why i have come to feel so strongly about it. for the past years i have seen the determination of immigrant fathers who worked

two or three jobs without taking a dime from the government and at risk any moment losing it all just to build a better life for her kids. i have seen the heart break and anxiety children whose mothers might be taken from them just because they didn't have the right papers. i have seen the courage of students who, except circumstances of their birth are as american asthma leah or sasha. students who bravely come out as undocumented in hopes of making a difference in the country they love. these people, our neighbors, our classmates, our friends, they did not come here in search of a free ride or an easy ride. they came to work and study and serve in our military. and above all contribute to america's success. now tomorrow i will travel to las vegas and meet with some of these students,

including a number woman name astra. she was brought to america when she was 4 years old. only possessions were a cross, her dog, and the frilly dress she had on. when she started school she didn't speak any english. she caught up to other kids by reading newspapers and watching pbs. and she became a good student. her father worked this landscaping, her mom cleaned other people's homes. they wouldn't let her apply to technology magnet school not because they didn't love her but because they were afraid the paperwork would out her as undocumented immigrant. so she applied behind their back and got in. still, she mostly lived in the shadows: until her grandmother who visited every year from mexico passed away and she couldn't travel to the funeral without risk of being found

out and deported. it was around that time she decided to begin sad voyeur indicating for herself and others like her and today she is a college student working on her third degree. are we a nation that kicks out a striving, hopeful immigrant like astra or are thee a nation that finds a way to welcome her in? scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger for we know the heart of a stranger. we were strangers once, too. my fellow americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. we were strangers once, too. and whether our forebear errors were strangers who crossed the atlantic or the pacific or the rio grande, we are here only because this country welcomed them in and taught them that to