. >> alex fulton with the "hill" newspaper. i wanted to get your thoughts on president obama's recent recess appointments of richard cordray and the others in the midst of the pro forma sessions, and they are said to be sham sessions, but were those appointments justified under the constitution and the senate rules as you see them? >> well, you will find a difference here. >> you will find a difference, but i believe that the president was entirely justified. for two reasons. one, because as trent said earlier, we are make it harder and harder and harder for nominees to go through this incredibly laborious and incredibly long time process and there is no end. it gets worse by the year. so to me alone that is the factor of where do you draw the line. secondly, constitutionally, as i understand it, there is no clear direction as to the session. these are bogus sessions, we know it. it does violate to a certain extent past precedent, but that is not the first time that precedent has been altered in the course of doing the right th