on behalf of c-span and national constitution center, i am jeffrey rosen.hank you so much. >> guest: thank you. >> that was "after words," booktv signature program in which authors of the latest nonfiction books are interviewed by journalists, public policymakers and others familiar with the material. "after words" airs every weekend on booktv at 10 p.m. on saturday, 12 and 9 p.m. on sunday and 12 a.m. on monday. you can also watch "after words" online. of the booktv.org and click on transport in the booktv series and topics list on the upper right side of the page. >> the most heavily defended airspace in history was the airspace over north vietnam. they were literally tens of thousands of anti-aircraft guns. there were thousands of surface-to-air missiles and placements, and they also had aircraft at various bases that would come out on occasion but they didn't come out all the time because they could really match up to ours but they were there, a constant threat. unfortunately, we watched those being offloaded from a russian freighter, taken off and take

. >> next on booktv, "after words" with guest host jeffrey rosen, president and ceo of the national constitution center. this week justice john paul stevens and his latest book, "six amendments: how and why we should change the constitution." the retired u.s. supreme court justice targets gun violence, the death penalty, gerrymandering and campaign opinions in amendments he -- finance in amendments he believes would better protect and empower citizens. the program is about an hour. >> host: welcome, justice stevens. on behalf of the national constitution center, it's so great to see you. you honored the national constitution center a few weeks ago by visiting us. the constitution center, as you know, is the only institution in america that has a congressional charter to disseminate information about the constitution on a nonpartisan basis, and i can't think of a better book to discuss in connection with that mission than your wonderful new book, "six amendments: how and why we should change the constitution." you've proposed six constitutional amendments on topics ranging from campaign finance a

. >> jeffrey rosen joining us on the phone. he's with the national constitution center.a george washington university law professor. mr. rosen, good morning. >> good morning. >> how did the constitution provide for what president obama is about to do tonight? >> the constitution gives the president executive power. defenders say this has been understood to give him a lot of discretion about how to allocate law enforcement resources. the supreme court in a case in 2012 called arizona versus u.s. recognized that the president does have broad executive discretion and they said this is an inherent constitutional power. the court said that a principal feature of the removal system, decision to remove immigrants, is a broad discretion exercised by officials who must decide whether it makes sense to pursue removal at all. now the case on the other side says that the president has an obligation to take care of it that the laws are faithfully executed, that he can't pick and choose among the kinds of laws to enforce or the numbers of immigrants to deport. the critics say that it'

host: jeffrey rosen, anything you want to add, aside from the conversation we've been having that the audience might find interesting? guest: there are strong constitutional arguments on both sides. i invite people to visit constitutioncenter.org to hear our scholars debate the issue. host: thank you for being with us. >> later tonight, coverage of the address to the nation by the president on immigration. we will have that life at 8:00 eastern on c-span. right now we are live at the senate intelligence committee, and it looks like diane feinstein is about to enter. she just completed the last vote of the day held over in the senate, and also waiting for the ranking member as we begin this hearing for the director of counterterrorism center nominee nicholas rasmussen to his confirmation hearing. will come tong order. let me just say that the soon to be chairman of this committee, this is not my usual way of operation. i like to be on time. we got into a bit of a problem in the caucus, and i just wanted to say that to you/ -- to you. the committee will come to order. session to hear ni

. >> next on booktv, "after words" with guest host jeffrey rosen, president and ceo of the national constitution center. this week justice john paul stevens and his latest book, "six amendments: how and why we should change the constitution." the retired u.s. supreme court justice targets gun violence, the death penalty, gerrymandering and campaign opinions in amendments he --