issue one. latino power. i met these young people all across the country. they are studying in our schools, they are playing with our children, pledging allegiance to our flag, hoping to serve our country. they are americans, in their hearts, in their minds they are americans through and through, in every single way, but on paper. and all they want is to go to college and give back to the country they love. so lifting the shadow of deport tiges and giving them a -- of deportation and giving them a reason to hope. it was the right thing to do. >> the reception given to president obama on friday by naleao the national association of latino elected and appointed officials was decidedly warm.

the annual conference came only one week after the president's executive order to stop the deportation from the united states of young, ill lem immigrants of al nationalities now living here, provided certain criteria are met. this executive order affects the status of some 800,000 of the 11 million aliens in the u.s. it grants temporary legal status, two years, to those who come forward and register for a work permit with these additional criteria. one. be under 30. two. arrive in the u.s. before age 16. three. live in the u.s. for at least five consecutive years. four. be a high school graduate or in school or have military serv five. no criminal record. >> question, how strongly will this move, by president obama, granting temporary legal

status, not citizenship to young latinos, how will it resonate with latino voters? >> so far it seems to be resonating pretty well. but i think the obama white house is going to be shocked at how little staying power this ultimately has. i think by election day, this isn't about election day, this is about election day november, that what is going to really influence voters is the fact that the unemployment rate among latino americans is officially 11%, actually closer to 13%, you have about 25 million households with their homes underwater, i think those are the facts that will end up resonating, come november. >> i think this was a master stroke on the part of the president, because he puts romney in a box. mitt romney can't be for this and he can't be against it. and at the same time, the president, both augments and cements his base in the

hispanic community. grand, unemployment is a biggish -- granted, unemployment is a big issue, but there are certain issues that really affect their community and i think the president hit the sweet spot on this one. >> susan? >> less a master stroke and more an indication of how worried obama is about his election prospects. because he has lost really the white, blue collar vote he desperately needs. he needs to pick up somewhere else. he needs to pick up his base and drum up support. hispanic voters are increasing at least by 2 million this year, it is still less than 9% of the vote. he really needs to drum up more support from the rest of his base if it is going to have a big impact. again this is a sign he is desperately worried about his reelection process. >> the 2 million of voting population or population? >> right now there is fewer than 22 million voters who are hispanic who are expected to vote in the 2012 election. that is less than 9% of the

overall vote. he still has to make up for that somewhere. >> paul? >> two things. first of all it shored up his greatest weakness with latinos, which was enthusiasm. he is going to get a huge share of the vote, the question is will they come to the polls. he has now given them something to come to the polls for. two, as eleanor said, it was a strategic master stroke. this was the one area where romney might have had a shot at coming back. senator rubio had a plan to do almost exactly the same thing, obama got there first. that eliminates what romney might have offered that he could have given the positions he took the harsh positions against illegal immigration that he took who is being deported? or will be? deportation of illegal immigrants has been on the rise since the year 2001, when 120,000 people were deported. last year's deportation number

was a record setter, 396,000 deported. the president, one week ago, described who was being deported. >> we focused and use discretion about whom to prosecute, focusing on criminals who endanger our communities, rather than students who are earning their education. is up 80%. deportation of >> question. 400,000 deport stations of -- deportations of future would-be citizens in one year sent back to go where they came from. how does this echo the statue of liberty in new york harbor at thent transto the harbor -- at the entrance to the harbor? how does she feel about it? quote give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. the wretched refuse of your

teeming shore. send these the homeless the tempest tossed to me. i lift my lamp beside the golden door. paul? >> it doesn't say give me your carjackers your murderers, these are criminals he is getting rid of. the problem is of that 400,000 only a small percentage are serious hardened criminals. a lot of them just have immigration violations. that is a problem for the president. the big reason why he did this other thing on deportation was because he has stirred up a lot of resentment within the hispanic community because of the huge increase in deportation. >> facts aside, paul, stay with us, facts aside, what do you think the nice guy says in america today generally speaking toward immigrants? >> i think it's been what it has always been. i have done a lot of polls, talked to a lot of people. i think people are okay with immigrants who stay within the what you and who want to be americans.

they are furious with the idea of those who are criminals. >> if you have a ph.d. yes, but below that, hang around? >> they don't want people, they want people to behave by the rules. they feel taken advantage of when immigrants come here and break the law. >> and the president really cracked down on a lot of the illegal immigration, because he thought that was going to be a beginning to passing immigration reform. the bill never came and paul is right he was really struggling in the hispanic community. they did feel betrayed. but the immigration in this country to mexico has now slowed to a standstill so this is a good time to address these issues and there is no resentment against these young people who were brought here. every local newspaper has done a feature on some wonderful young person facing a deportation order. the president did the right thing here. we keep talking about the

politics of it but from a humane standpoint i think he did what america is supposed to stand for. >> what are the president's priorities? i think most people, what is the most important problems facing america? immigration would probably not be number one or two. what would be one and two? the economy, job creation. and the president has decided to focus recently on a lot of things that have absolutely nothing to do with those. he focused earlier on this tax increase on what the american buffett rule and same sex marriage and now he has this. what he could have done is come out and say you know what, we have 8% unemployment, you know what we could use in this country? a lot more high skilled entepreneurial immigrants that come in here to create jobs. that is how you get the political base of the bucks back. >> immigration does correlate to work, and jobs. and therefore, it is still sensitive. >> that's right. >> they come in and they take

jobs of americans, i'm putting this all in quotes. >> and alabama has -- is really hurting because they put in this restriction. >> i want to finish my thought. alabama put in a restrictive immigration law and a lot of legal immigrants have left the state along with illegals, and the crops are rotting in the fields. businesses are canceling contracts, it is not good for the economy to have this kind of attitude. okay so. >> susan? >> that is a valid point you are making eleanor. if president obama thought this was such an important priority for him why didn't he take it up legislatetively when congress was run by the democrats. >> he did. >> and the house had a democratic -- >> he did. >> the dream act which this was a modest version of the senate got 355 votes -- got 55 votes. >> but they couldn't get it through.

>> republicans can't say get the 60. >> the dream act didn't pass it was the republicans fault. >> there were democrats who voted with republicans. okay romney had naleao. the republican candidate also addressed the naleao conference this week he spoke to the obama immigration action. >> some people have asked if i will let stand the president's executive order. the answer is i will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president's temporary measure. as president, i won't settle for stopgap measures. i'll work with republicans and democrats to build a long-term solution and i'll prioritize measures, i want you to also

know this. i will prioritize efforts that strengthen legal immigration, and make it more transparent and easier. and i'm going to address the problem of illegal immigration in a civil and resolute manner. we may not always agree, but when i make a promise you, i will keep it. >> what's naleao? >> national association of elected latino elected and appointed officials. the point he is making is this and i think actually romney needs to make this point a little more clearly. which is that okay what obama did right now is potentially unconstitutional. he circumvented the congress and said i'm just going to do the dream act without your help. i think what romney's trying to say is i'll do a comprehensive reform, we'll work it through congress, legally, and then get it signed into what you comprehension civil, and that is a better solution because then we can enforce the borders a little bit better, if he wants to build a fence if that is his way of keeping illegal

immigrants out, he wants to address the whole problem of illegals getting into the country while dealing with the people who are already here. that is all nicely said. >> but professor obama had to find it unconstitutional. >> it is not unconstitutional. it is prosecutorial discretion. you have limited resources. you have to decide who you are going after and who you are going to deport and it makes no sense to deport young people who are succeeding and in all respects good citizens. >> romney did not answer the question whether or not he would overturn this. >> what is the answer to the question? and then he said i'm not going to. >> he said will i uphold the president's policy? i will have my own policy. >> he is going to make no attempt to rescind the policy. >> he didn't say that. >> i know he didn't.

>> talking about latinos right? >> of course not. for a lot of latino families, they don't know if the president's promise will be kept by the next administration. so they are going to go to an immigration office and say yes, i'm here illegally. but the president promised that i could have a reprieve, but the less they know that is going to be continued they are going to be afraid to do that. so romney not giving a straight answer. >> i don't think you can say it is a crooked answer on romney's part. he wants a program that will be endured. >> he gave a far more expansive answer to the question. >> yes he did. >> he may be able to pull that off. >> if he is elected president he will be leading a party that is largely antiimmigration. >> they are not

antiimmigration. >> that is just wrong. >> excuse me. how is he going to put together this wonderful program ted kennedy, john mccain and george w. bush couldn't put together? it is not as easy as he makes it sound. and the president has taken a small slice of a very deserving community, and done the right thing. >> he lives in massachusetts he could not confront ted kennedy with this issue when he ran against him. >> i don't know that he worked with ted 23 ayes 17 nos. >> the ayes have it? contempt. that is how the republican-led house committee on oversight and government reform, claired by congressman darrell issa this week ruled against attorney general eric holder. ag holder refuses to hand over documents related to the botched

u.s. federal gun running program dubbed fast and furious. hours before the vote, the president inserted himself into the fracas, citing presidential executive privilege over the documents that issa wants, some 1700 big guns were purchased in the u.s. by suspected mexican gun smuggler as the u.s. federal agency the bureau of alcohol, tobacco firearms and explosives, the atf, looked on. the guns were moved across the border to mexico. it was a set up. and the doj let it happen. the atf hoped they could trace the weaponry to mexico's big drug cartels, but the guns went awry, notably in the fatal shooting by a mexican drug cartel gunman of a u.s. border patrol agent brian terry a year and a half ago. the documents congressman issa

is demanding from holder allegedly detail how the obama administration misled congress about fast and furious. for the white house the documents contained privileged internal communications, so it is a standoff between the executive branch and the legislative. one that holder called a quote unquote constitutional crisis. republican house speaker john boehner, in a statement, said quote unless the attorney general reevaluates his choice and supplies the promised documents, the house will vote to hold him in contempt this coming week unquote. that means the full house. >> question. is this a political witch hunt in an election year as some democrats claim? or does this slap by house republicans have merit? >> susan? >> it does have merit. what the republicans want to know is what the department of justice knew about this botched

gun running operation. they have been asking for months and months from the department of justice to give them more information, because evidence keeps coming forward through whistle blowers and through leaks that they clearly knew more than they are saying they knew and no one is being held accountable. >> what's the ag saying? he has turned over 70,000 boxes? >> he has said he turned over 7600 documents. but the republicans say a lot of it is stuff they have already seen or it is heavily redacted. they are not getting the info they say they are entitled to. and congress does have a right to oversee the government and its operations and they feel like a huge mistake was made, there has been a loss of life, not just agent terry but mexicans killed by the thousands of weapons now in the hands of mexicans that our agents never bothered to track. >> this is a tactic of gun running across the border to build cases and get the big drug king pins. tactics started by the bush

administration. it was ended by eric holder when they realized what a disaster it was and it was turned over to the inspector general of the justice department who is investigating and has access to all the documents, including the ones the white house and justice department don't want to turn over to the congress. the documents they are after are internal deliberations. >> uh-huh. >> about how the administration is going to respond to the investigation. in other words the spin they are going to put on it, which the congress is framing as a cover-up. they are dragging out all the watergate language, hoping to smear the president and the attorney general, and what they are in danger of. >> uh-huh. >> is overreaching like whitewater and impeachment. and i don't believe speaker boehner wanted this. he is pulled along by his caucus. the right has been after fast and furious for really the better part of a year, and now it is out there and let the politics fall where they may and i don't think the white house is upset that this is front and center, taking away from mitt

romney and his jobs agenda. >> what happens if the worst descends on democrats in this issue? what is the worst that can happen? >> that they lied to the congress? >> well there was a 2011 letter which really gave a completely false picture of this programs republicans want to know exactly who knew what, when, about this letter, which gave a completely distorted picture of a program that was not begun during the bush administration. a completely different plan, which was much more closely monitored that did not result in 22 or 300 mexican citizens dead. that was a very different program. >> here's your question. will a full house contempt of congress vote be averted? yes or no? james? >> i don't think so. >> i don't think so, either. but even if there is contempt, it would be referred to the

u.s. attorney who would probably sit on it, like has been done with past contempt charges. >> susan? >> i would say 90% of the vote will go forward and he will be found in contempt of congress. >> then what happens? >> well like eleanor was saying it is referred back to the executive branch of holder's office and it will not go anywhere in a criminal fashion but may in a civil fashion? >> paul? >> i question what kind of political damage will there be, i think very little. it is something issa can hold up after shooting a bunch of duds. i don't think it will have any real effect. >> how many people have been held in contempt of congress? >> very, very few. a lot of times it will go through committee and never make it to the full house. the democrat held two obama administration officials in contempt of congress in 2008. harriet meyers and josh bolton. >> and the democrats got the

documents they wanted. >> it is kind of a charade on all sides. is it a charade? >> it is election year politics. >> if you look in the dictionary under election year stunts, you'll find a picture of darrell issa. >> what makes you believe that issa is capable honorable guy. >> he is the chair of a committee that has the capability of doing this. in an election year. >> historically they have gone after the opposite party. >> this is what he does. and actually nance plows, -- nancy pelosi, last week, a lot of people called darrell issa a loose cannon and she said that is -- that he is actually an issue three. rubio tells all. florida republican senator

marco rubio is often named as a possible vice president running mate for mitt romney. the senator is a cuban american, born in miami, and popular with hispanics. previous to the u.s. senate, mr. rubio served in the florida house of representatives for eight years. so, senator rubio appeals to floridians, a crucial swing state which mitt romney must win if he is to become president of the u.s. senator rubio, age 41, could also help romney pull the youth vote. rubio wrote an autobiography, published this week, called "an american son ." from his ought tow biography quote many people who come here illegally are doing exactly what we would do, if we lived in a country where we couldn't feed our families. if my kids went to sleep hungry every night and my country

didn't give me an opportunity to feed them there isn't a law, month matter how restrictive, that would prevent coming here. unquote. >> what is the political impact of rubio's strong words? paul? >> well, i think it strengthens any future immigration forum. you have obviously a senator who represents hispanics, standing up for illegal immigration for the humanity behind illegal immigration. i don't think it necessarily helps marco rubio become a candidate for vice president. maybe it hurts his chances for becoming a candidate for vice president. >> how? >> violating the law? >> he just walked across a hard line that a lot of americans not just conservative americans, very much the conservative base believes, which is breaking the law is breaking the law, and whether or not you might have done it, they don't deserve to stay, and so this is a very

difficult issue for any republican to transgress, and he just transgressed it. >> eleanor? is he in the running? >> i don't think he is. >> why do you say that? >> because the romney campaign is terrified of what you might call the palin effect. putting someone in that position who cannot be seen as a credible, instant president. in years 41 years old, he is old enough. but when you see him and listen to him he doesn't come across as somebody who could command this country should that be the case. but he is nonetheless an asset for romney, because he adds an important note of empathy and understanding of the immigration issue. and his position is that romney has to do a lot to declare the republican party the party of legal immigration. that their antiimmigration rhetoric has led people to think they don't like immigration of any kind. i think rubio is an asset.

>> we'll see a lot of marco rubio in the next few months. he will have a big position at the republican convention. you are going to think they are on the ticket. >> u.s. constitution describes 35 years of age as the minimum age for president. as a matter of fact you have to be above 35. >> well some people project graph gr.a.vitas, and some don't. >> is that a description in the constitution? >> there are other choices that bolster his brand, which is i'm the fix it guy on the economy. romney, rubio offers something out of time. bye bye