very much for joining me tonight. obama throws long ball. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in new york today. president obama made it official, announcing plans to unisrael his executive actions on immigration in a speech tomorrow night. it's a move that could reportedly give legal stat to us 5 million undocumented immigrants. immigrants. the political risks are huge. they seem to be gearing up for war and lawsuits and all out legislative confrontation. ted cruz today said congress should refuse to confirm nominees unless the president reverses course. paul ryan called it a partisan bomb that will sour relations with congress on major issues like tax reform.

as part of a wide ranging interview today, senator john mccain of arizona told me the president should delay his executive action until next year. >> my question to the president is, why couldn't you wait and see what this new congress does? give them some time. not a deadline but some time. you'll know whether they move forward or not. you don't to have set a timetable. with you obviously, that won't be the case. >> there's a lot more of that interview which we'll play in full after the immigration fight including senator mccain's tough talk about his colleague, hillary clinton. >> do i think she is good on policy issues? it is well known that hillary clinton and i have a good relationship. we have -- >> don't you agree on a lot? >> we do agree on a lot. but i think it is a legitimate question if you said, secretary

clinton, tell may concrete accomplishment while, during your tour as secretary of state. i think she may have trouble answering that. >> wow! we've got more coming from senator mccain. we begin the big news out of the white house. clarence page, and john, john, i wonder what kind of fire power this is going to re leave with the republican side. okay, congress dwoenlt this. i'm doing it alone. what the historic impacts coming down the road in the years ahead? >> i think this is a tremendous mistake the president is making. i think it hurts him. not only with the republicans but i think it will be proven very unpopular with the american people. i think it will have ramifications long term for democrats. and for the power of the presidency. and i think that this is going to be a key battle between

congress, the executive branch and the legislative branch, and how it is resolved will be important in trying to scale back the imperial presidency. we know that there have been other executive amnesties but not at this level. for the president on record saying he couldn't do this, that he is not the king, and then for him to turn around and do this, i think it is a tremendous mistake. >> your view generally? >> well, john makes a very good argument. it sounds good. it would sound better if the president were getting some cooperation from the republicans or was on the brink of it. we see him on the brink of quite the opposite. we haven't seen anything get done with the republican congress to speak of for the last several years. more coming down the road. his appointments already being delayed. john boehner considering a lawsuit against them. it can go on and on. president obama made a promise that he was going to do something about immigration.

he's been blocked at every turn. partly by the republicans divided among themselves on the immigration question. he is taking action by executive order. and saying if the republican there's come together with an alternative piece of legislation, then he'll rescind his order. that's where it stands. >> clarence and john, here he is. the big announcement comes tomorrow. but the white house began selling the move today. here's president obama posting on facebook which was time from the oval office. >> tomorrow night i'll be announcing here from the white house some stems i can take to start fixing our broken immigration system. everybody agrees our immigration system broken. unfortunately, washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long. so what i'll be laying out is things i can do with my lawful authority as president to make the system work better, even as i continue to work with congress and encourage them to get a comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem.

>> meanwhile, let's watch this. >> we know that these steps are going to strengthen national security, the security at the border. they are going to strengthen our economy. and they will do something to address a lingering problem which is the millions of people who currently live in this country who can come out of the shadows. can get right with the law. they can pay their taxes. they can go back to the line. go to the back of the line. but also become fully contributing members of communities, large and small across the country. and this is an important stem that will have a pretty profound impact on the lives of millions who live here. >> here's the latest numbers from knicks and the "wall street journal." the president has the support of his base. according to the "wall street journal" and the nbc polling

just out. only 32% of the american public approves of the president's plan of taking executive action. less than a third. the other 69 either oppose it or aren't sure what to think. supporters highest among his partisan base with 62%, about 3/5 of democratser, a minority of independents support it. 57% of the american people support some kind of pathway to citizenship for people. only 40% oppose the idea. the american people are not resolute against people coming here illegally finding a way to be legal. they have a good heart about that. they don't like this method according to our poll today. your thinking. >> americans don't like executive action because it sounds like monarchy. that's why president obama said i'm a president, not an emperor. he's been driven to this. everybody wants immigration reform. not everybody but a large group of americans want to see a pathway to citizenship.

obama can at least call a temporary halt by executive order to the deportations. and then it is up to the next president if they want to renew this or not. in the meantime congress can bring about immigration reform. and it doesn't appear to be in the offing right now. >> the president has been mixed on this. he said he couldn't do it. he's said he would do it. here he is. he has to convince people he was wrong when he previously said he didn't have the legal authority. these are some past comments from the president himself. let's pay attention to this. >> given the resources we have, we can't do everything the congress has asked us to do. what we can do is then carve out the dream act folks. if we start broadening that, i would be ignoring the law in a

way that i think would be very difficult to defend legally. that's not an option. >> i'm the president of the united states. not an emperor of the united states. my job is to execute laws that are passed. we have certain obligations that are the enforced. even if we think the results may be tragic. >> the notion that i can suspend deportations through executive order, that's just not the case. >> john and clarence. did he get a new lawyer? i mean, these are 180 from what he'll say tomorrow night, apparently. i'm just curious where this new dispensation has come from. >> i'm stunned. and i am a huge supporter as you know of immigration reform. i've been pushing it in all kinds of places. for him to do it this way is exactly the wrong thing. it is only temporary. you won't get a solution that is long term. and i think actually by this

action, he is making it more difficult for the republicans to get to an immigration bill. and my conversation with the republicans is they wanted to do something on immigration soon. the president is screwing it up by this executive order which he himself said he didn't have the authority to do. >> they haven't made. progress. >> 28th a lack. trust between house republicans and the senate democrats now. the republicans finally have a chance to run the thing. the whole congress. and the president says, no, i won't give them a chance to do that. i think it is tragic. >> i'm a skeptic. i'll make it clear later in the show. i'm a skemtic of this approach deeply. but john mccain will show the full interview in a couple minutes on "hardball." he said he wants the president to hold back a month or two. he said just a little bit to see if the new congress has more freedom for john boehner, the speaker, less real red hot

rejectionists, that he might be able to get a vote on a real bill which deals with immigration, stopping illegal hiring. stopping people from crossing the bored he. making it a real come prenlsive bill. do you think that's reasonable? do you think it is reasonable to assume in a month or two of the new congress, that john mccain, or john boehner will be able to get a vote on immigration reform? >> i think he gave him a three or four or five months. i think it is a possibility. by doing this executive order, you guarantee that it is not going to happen. i think the president could have done this six months ago when he promised too it. he didn't want to do it for political reasons. now he does want to do it for political reasons. >> is there any chance the republicans will actually belly up, face the fact that people are here. that a lot of them on an average of 12 years, a long time. they're not going home. nobody is checking them out. they can do something. they can stop the no of illegal immigration tomorrow morning.

but they don't want to do it. they are losing the fight on illegal immigration. more and more people come in and eventually they'll be legalized. you know the politics. thing. >> yeah. i was there back in 2007 when john mccain was booed by conservatives because he advanced comprehensive reform. the republicans are divided among themselves on this. democrats aren't. it is very obvious who is holding things up. and i don't see any light at the end of that opportunity right now. >> only 3/5 of the democratic party according to the new poll likes this. but i think you're right about the spirit of it. they do want something positive done for the people in the united states who came here many years ago. thank you. coming up, john mccain plays "hardball." i asked him about the politics and immigration. >> rand paul who appears to people like me because he is

people like me because he is pretty dovish. >> we might have a hawkish -- >> i'm not sure if it is in the dictionary. >> i'm not sure. it's all in my big interview with john mccain. the man who ran against obama. we got married, we became a family of five. without the time and money to wash all this stuff separately. so we wash it all in cold water with tide. even sara's shorts. those are mine. seriously? throw it all in... really? because tide cleans better. even in cold.

114th congress has picked its chairs. take a look at the graphic. only one woman has been recommended to a committee chair. all the way at the bottom of the screen. she'll be head of the house administration committee. meanwhile, paul ryan moves over to the ways and means committee. a gavel he has always wanted. ipt doctor crypt krip crim citizenship.

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with john mccain. we talk about the president's actions on immigration. the iranian nuclear threat as well as his views on hillary clinton and rand paul. i started by asking him about his new book, 13 soldiers and the lessons he learned fighting in vietnam. as well as his opposition to the administration's restrained approach to fighting the war against isis. here it comes. >> what struck me was the part about vietnam. people think of you as a veteran of vietnam. you were struck dourn and you've been through it all. the resentment was toward government. linldson johnson in that case who had ridiculous rules of engagement. so the guy flying the plane, you, were endangered and hanoi was safe. we'll talk about that. >> well, very briefly, we watched russian ships coming into the port, offload surface to air missiles, put them on trucks, take them miles and miles up roads and then be put

in place and we were not allowed to go after them. and then they were shot at us. one of them shot me down. that was terribly frustrating. the targets were decided literally in the oval office as to which ones would be hit. they had this idea, if they grabbed mcnamara, johnson, if they gradually escalated, then it would squeeze the north vietnamese and they would come to the bargaining table. well, it had the opposite effect. the vietnamese, well, we stood up against. that we saw the escalation in the south. first it was prim guards and then it was submarines and then it was, and it got built up and built up. but we lost the war. and that's just a fact. and so i'm seeing the same kind of gradualism in this present white house. and i'm also seeing a micromanagement from the white house as well. >> in your book you talk about

the north vietnamese would department every time we escalated or increased our response. the lower we went in fighting the war, the faster they went. is that happening now? >> what we're seeing is a gradual escalation. the president just announced 1,500 more. and mark my words, he will have to announce some more within a certain period of time. no military strategist that i know believes that what we're doing now will defeat, degrade and defeat isis. in other words in the words of form he secretary panetta and former secretary gates, both, i was there last weekend, that the capabilities and the strategy does not match one the goal of degrading and ultimately destroying isis. one other thing i need to get off my chest. telling the syrian army we'll train them and send them into the fight.

he is intensifying his attacks on the free syrian army and we aren't doing anything to inhint bashar assad for doing that. the same guy responsible for 200,000 deaths in syria. that's immoral. >> so we have to go after both sides. >> yes. if you want to defeat isis and do what the president also said. that bashar assad must go. so right now we are giving bashar assad free rain to decimate the free syrian army and that's what's happening. they're being slaughtered. and by the way, some of them are crossing over to another extremist outfit because they're not getting the help that we had promised them on many occasions. it is a serious, serious threat

to the united states of america over time. >> you're writing this book from the soldiers' point of view. like the guy joseph martin. this guy fought in the battle of new york in long island. he ends up fighting in yorktown. he follows the campaign all the way through. >> joins at age 15. and he manages to stay in the war until the end. >> and almost starves to death. the conditions, we hear about valley forge. they were literally starving. and also, we point out. something, i didn't know much about this. it was 30 years before they gave a pension to these soldiers. and he was very angry and bitter about it. >> was it $90 a year? >> something like that. now no, matter how we feel about america's involvement, he with honor our vets. not that long ago, everywhere in america we only had our vets. and it is very uplifting.

>> the vietnam veterans did not get the welcome home that they deserved. they got later on. finally, one other point. one of the great things we do in america from each of these states. they land here and take them down to the world war ii memorial. the world war ii veterans. it is so moving. it is wonderful. >> let me ask you. soldiers don't like this boots on the ground reference. we're people. we're gis, not just boots. we're talking about putting 1,500, as you said, more. that's not going to do it. so we embed them with companies. then they get captured. what are we going to do if one of them gets captured and they start beheading them? >> i think it would be really terrible. they don't happen to be in uniform which is really --

>> can we, american people stand the idea of a uniformed soldier beheaded? wouldn't that just escalate this war to a fury? >> because of the value we place on american lives, citizens or noncitizens. but look. nothing is for certain. there is a great, that's why they call it the fog of war. what we're doing now. every military officer that i know outside of the president hierarchy believes we need, what we're doing will not achieve -- the first thing is no-fly zone in syria. i would give weapons. not divisions.

you could do it with a no zone much more easily. but i understand the american people do not want the massive influx of troops. i think that would not be productive. what we're going to have to do is be a lot more involved. to say isis in iraq can be read the in one fashion, with one strategy. and isis in syria with another. that's crazy. and by the way, the air, what we're doing from the air now is absolutely minimal. talking about four or five strikes. today desert storm. >> what's the hesitance? are we afraid of hitting hospitals? >> we don't have the target information. you have air controllers on the ground. >> how do we get them without americans? >> it would have to be americans. >> that's risky. >> i agree. no good options.

>> let me ask you about your party in this regard. rand paul who appeals to people like me because he is pretty dovish. he referred to hillary clinton as a war hawk. what does that make you? it seems odd we might have a hawkish democratic candidate. >> i'm not sure i think in the dictionary can we have a hawkish democratic candidate against a dovish republican candidate? >> let me give you the good news from my standpoint. tom cotton in arkansas and some others like north carolina, and georgia. so there are much more, i hate to use the word, the word is internationalists. and then isolationists. so i think we have strengthened our ranks. by the way, ever since these beheadings, the american public opinion has swung rather dramatically.

which has changed some of, i've seen the change in some of rand paul's rhetoric. >> coming up, more of my interview with john mccain as we moved on the path to war. the white house is facing, or racing against clock on a deal to stop iran. we'll hear what he has to say about that. what he says about stopping illegal immigration in this country. especially what he has to say about hillary clinton and what it takes to be president. you get used to the pet odors in your couch.

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for the last but not least of my interview with john mccain whose new book is called 13 soldiers. we talk about whether hillary clinton would make a good president or not. that's coming up in just a minute. i began by asking him about the hot issue of the week. illegal immigration. let me ask but an issue you've been out front on.

this question of immigration reform. you were one of the gang of eight, one of the republicans who voted for the senate bill. >> and i've tried once before. >> it was good bill but it wasn't enforced. i keep telling my liberal aides, it has teeth in it. you have an i.d. card. >> you have to pay thousands of dollars in fees. you have to get in line. >> what more does that right want? >> i don't know, chris. exempt that there is a legitimate concern about bored he security. >> can't that be net? >> it can be. and i believe it done with technology and not so much with personnel. but if we could get 90% effective control of the border and 100% surveillance, which we could, situational awareness, then i think that would ease the path to -- >> if obama did that, from his end of the deal, from the progressive edge, the liberal end, would they be willing to

give an eventual path to citizenship? >> that i believe the majority of the members of the house of representatives would approve a path to citizenship with a border, a secure border, and pay back taxes, learn english. i really believe that if presented in the way that we can assure people. you referred to simpson. the reason why simpson failed was because we didn't secure the border. so if we could assure the american people, and no matter how conservative they are, that we have a secure border. >> why can't you be, you ran against him. why can't you be the interlocutor? why cannot you say, you really do want reform. you're not just here for the issue. the boehner side wants the issue. why can't they get in a room and hammer it out?

>> i don't know the answer to that. but i think there is a legitimate question now, whether the president wants a political result which would help them in the 2016 election or not. my question to the president is, why couldn't you wait and see what this new congress does? give them some time. not a deadline. you'll know whether they can move forward or not. you don't to have set a timetable. and see then. obviously, that is not going to be the case. and in my home state, there is deep awareness and concern about bored he security. okay? but still, 70% of the people in arizona are for a path to citizenship. if we have a secure border. >> i don't understand why grownups -- let me ask you about 2016. are you running again? >> i'm certainly leaning that way. >> i think you're running again. i've seen your office will you

are like barry goldwater's permanent replacement. let me ask you about hillary clinton. this is a headline question tonight by the way. the book is 13 soldiers. really good read about our history and i think it really does talk about the regular guy out there. and all your resentments, the experience, i think, in vietnam are really healthy for people to read. let me ask but this race. do you think it will be, do you think hill has the competence to be president? >> i'm sure that whoever the american people select. i think, i would support that. do i think that she is good on foreign policy issues? i think this is a legitimate question. it is well known that hillary clinton and i have a good relationship. >> don't you agree on a lot? >> we do agree on a lot. but i think it is a legitimate question if up, secretary clinton, tell me a concrete accomplishment while you're,

during your tour as secretary of state. i think she may have trouble answering that. >> you mean a lot of input but not output? >> well, she traveled to a lot of countries. she is a great representative of america. kind of a rock star status. visited more countries than any other secretary of state. but what concrete policy or decision or whatever it is that she, was she responsible for? and i think she would have trouble answering that. >> let me ask you the toughest question with, iran. last question. negotiations continue through the 24th, i guess it is. next week. yeah. and do you think there's any home for a deal that keeps them from having a women? >> i worry very much that the administration is so, wants so badly a foreign policy success that i'm afraid that they may give up, make an agreement that

is really bad. including thousands of centrifuges. >> do you think iran is talking while it is building a bomb? >> well, that's been their history. i would like to see it treated for what it really is. it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, it looks like a treaty, it acts like treaty. then the united states should ratify or not ratify. >> thanks for your time. >> john mccain's book is called 13 soldiers. a personal history of americans at war. up next, the gang's all here. the republican party's big shot governors gathering in florida to show off their pedigree. and the big guy chris christie steals the show. here's some news you may find surprising.

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time for the round table. they have a lot to chew on. president obama announced he will unveil an executive order tomorrow night.

the partisan wars begin. republicans using words like emperor and monarch. then we'll break down an interview with senator managing mccain including what he really thinks of hillary clinton. plus, new jersey governor chris christie, topic "a" is over the immigration issue. the other issue is christie and who will be running for the governor's chairs. i love that. like a ring announcer. beth, the senior editor of msnbc.com. and jonathan, a great author and columnist for the daily beast which is a very important news journal. we were having a fight in the hallway. here's your pitch. is the president smart to go tomorrow to say congress won't do it. i'm going to do it. >> i think at this point he has no choice. look, john bain her an opportunity to say he would let this bill come up for a vote. the senate bill.

he hasn't 15 opportunity. no one is saying anybody has to be for it but let congress vote. and so obama can legitimately, i think argue that they had a chance for a year and a half. they haven't voted. you have 5 million families suffering. if your parents are about to get deported, that's real suffering. from a political perspective, it is real hard ball. it increases the chances that the republicans in 2016 won't get up close to 40% of the latino vote which they need to do in order to take the white house. if they get 20% -- >> ten years from now, will this look more like the emancipation proclamation in or more like -- it will be good or bad in the long run politically? too hard a question? >> i don't know that the process

of getting there is all that exciting. it will be very big short term explosions on capitol hill for sure. he's doing the right thing. that's the point. he is saying he will do it. he will go ahead and do it. we have 5 million people. >> 32% of the people agree with you. >> what's right about it? >> 32% agree. >> exactly what john said. a bipartisan bill passed the senate overwhelmingly. the congress has had multiple chances to weigh in. >> why don't the people support this action? >> they support a path to citizenship. i don't think pits the process. >> the key number is 32%. that means there are a lot of people who don't like it. not just the congress but the american people. >> if there was such suffering, the number would be higher. >> they do the -- >> it is irrelevant in the long sweep. >> you're saying it will work. >> absolutely. remember in the hollows, in west

virginia, they used to have the pictures in latino homes in this country over the next 50 years, a lot of them will have a picture of barack obama. >> the tape will be available. senator john mccain, this surprised me, he had some harsh words. they were pulling back shots together a while ago. let's hear him talk about her now. >> i think it is a legitimate question if you said, secretary clinton, tell me a concrete accomplishment while, during your tour as secretary of state. i think she may have trouble answering that. >> that's hard ball. i think he is teeing up. she didn't get anything done. she is a celebrity, a rock star. all those buzz words that he just used. what did he accomplish? then the lump on benghazi.

>> what is her answer? >> i don't know what her answer is. the point is that will be the main point of argument. she will say she carried the american flag across hundreds of nations. >> that's input. not output. >> did i the same thing when barack obama was running. the guy from texas, the mayor of austin. i said name one accomplishment legislatively this guy has pull as senator. i kept asking him. it's a tough question. what have you done? >> it didn't hurt obama politically. >> remember the rock star add in the summer of 2008 when they are tried to go after obama for being a rock star? not a president? >> you've jumped on the rock star part. any way, chris christie. we know his accomplishment had to go with the bridge. the annual conference where the announcement was met with derigs.

let's watch that. >> he promise in the 2008 this would be his agenda. ted congress in his complete veto proof control in the senate, at least, for the first couple years of his presidency. he did nothing about this exempt, you know, blow hot air. >> the president talked about the audacity of hope. this is the audacity of the power grab. i think they should take him to court. it is a clear spraegs of separation of powers. >> first of all, he never veto proofed anything. that means 290 house members and 67 senators. noted where near that number. right? do we all agree? so he's wrong. >> why is christie saying this stuff? >> he's just trying to lay down. the interesting thing baltimore he was cautious. he realizes like jeb bush, if he

actually wants to win the white house, he has to prove to the central on immigration. >> and he realizes he works in a state, next to big aer state, our here's in new york, new jersey has quite a bit of what? people of color. >> the roundtable. stay with us. when we come back, the record breaking snowfall in buffalo is a reminder that snow can kill a political career.

boy: once upon a time, there was a nice house that lived with a family. one day, it started to rain. the house tried to keep out all the water, but water got inside and ruined everybody's everythings. the house thought she let the family down. they just didn't think it could happen. they told the house they would take better care of her... always. announcer: protect what matters. get flood insurance.

more information on campaign plans. it looks like she will announce this coming january. that's pretty specific. this time around she'll play up the prospect of the country electing its first female president. also she'll make her campaign headquarters in the new york suburbs. i'll thinking white plains?

a punishing snowstorm has left towns like buffalo, new york, buried under six feet of

no right now, leaving hundreds trapped and seven people dead. but mother nature can become an but mother nature can also become an unexpected opponent and could throw their careers into the deep freeze. when i'm away on a family vacation.

but, you know, i was not going to look at my children and say, no, we're not going. >> that's not about the snow. it's about me. back now at the roundtable. who wants to take on the big guy. mike? come on. he's a republican. but that idea is more important than doing my job. your job's your job. >> as you know, i moved from politics to crisis pr. and if he were my client, i would say horrible message. you're always thinking from the people's perspective. two things when you're governing that you take care of, garbage and snow. and you got to be there. >> or weather more broadly. and christie's in trouble in new jersey and this could be a factor in his presidential campaign.

there's a lot of people who think he didn't get it done on sandy relief. when he said sit down and shut up that was to a heckler who was bringing up valid points about how the money hadn't gotten to the people on sandy. >> do prosecutors go to work on snowy days? i think they do go to work on snowy days. >> jane borger who just died this past week, was the one that beat him. she called him the abominable snowman and he never recovered. >> i've been following andrew cuomo. he's on there every five seconds. no, he should. de blasio was frightened into running around with his plows. >> a mess. didn't know what he was doing. >> that's what i love about the old politics of the police commissioner and the mayor out on the curb when there's a fire.

i want them to show up. >> my old boss used to make sure -- rudy giuliani, never had an issue when it came to snow. put plows on the front of sanitation trucks as well. called the governor and said, we need to call out the national guard, which we did and make sure it was taken care of. you have to make sure that you know how to -- as you say all the time, chris know how to govern. >> pleasure to be here. >> jonathan alter. history behind her. you're watching hardball. blend for each of us covergirl p!nk blend of rockstar and mama bear. her trublend... light 4 it blends in doesn't build up for a flawless nude look find your trublend at easy breezy beautiful covergirl

let me finish tonight with this. president obama's about to pull the pin from the grenade. all signs are that he's about the grant legal status to millions of workers here in this country without proper documentation. the explosion this will cause makes me wonder if this is the best we can do in what everyone realizes is a historic challenge. will blowing up the debate which this action will clearly achieve serve to fix the problem of illegal immigration. will it, really? it would have immediate benefits. a compassionate move on the part of the president and give families who have been here for years the way to live, work and save. that's the verdict on the worthiness of this action. but it would not give the affected people a path to

citizenship nor would it end the future flow of immigration and the national strife that would come with that. we'd have the same reality of people crossing the border. we'd have the same national division over the country's failure to get reasonable control over who can live and work here. the chief exploiters of jobs in this country are the most powerful magnet for illegal immigration. this will say if you can get into this country somehow and find an illegal job, eventually the president will issue you a work permit. and this is the central fact. an executive order by the president will not fix the failed u.s. immigration law. the only way to do that is by law, law passed by the u.s. congress, signed by the president. ideally in a nationally televised ceremony attended by the country's wide spectrum of leaders left to right. and the way the national policy is supposed to be established. that would be the american way to do something like this. by its nature, it would require compromise. by those who don't think anyone

who comes here illegally should ever be legal and the pro immigration forces. you'd have to be here legally. you'd have to be who you say you are. getting a new immigration law accepted and enforced sure beats what's coming, more anger, more illegal immigration. and this is not how we passed the civil rights act. that was passed by strong bipartisan support. this action by the president is supported according to a new nbc "wall street journal" poll by less than a third of the american people. and that's, of course, a reason not to do it but it is a reason to push the opponents on what they want to do. that's what i'm hoping for, a clear-cut out in the open national discussion where both sides explain why they cannot reach agreement on something so historically important. that's hardball for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in" --

>> hi, everybody. >> change is coming on immigration. >> i'm going to be announcing here from the white house some steps that i can take to start fixing our broken immigration system. >> tonight what we know about the president's proposal, the legality of acting without congress and the republican response. >> i think in the end politically it's bad move for him. then nbc and netflix distance themselves from bill cosby and two more women come forward with rape allegations in the past week. plus another massive snowstorm bears down on buffalo. and actress eva longoria has a new documentary about where our food comes from and who picks it. >> if you want to make change, you need to look at people at the very top. >> tonight my interview with eva longoria. >> there's a human cost to everything that's on your plate. "all in" starts right now. good eveningm