mary bridget, you saw ted cruz at the debate making the case saying there is zero chance this is goingblem. did he say anything to change your mind that he is not eligible to be president of the united states? >> he did not. >> so why do you think he is not eligible? in a nutshell, what's the reason? >> he needs to be a natural-born citizen. that term is defined by the common law. the common law says a natural-born citizen is one born in the territory of the sovereign. as canada is not part of our territory, he is not eligible. >> alan, she says it's clear, ted cruz not eligible. >> it's not clear. first, as a proud representative of new york values, let me say that i support ted cruz on this one. it is unsettled law, i agree. but it's unsignaturable. no court is ever going to decide that a person is not qualified to be president. it's just not a judicial issue. it's a political, an issue on which people don't have standing. a lawyer filed a lawsuit today, it's going to be thrown out of court so fast. the issue is unsettled. but the better argument is in favor of saying that a person w

joining me now to talk about it, mary bridget mcmann and law professor at delaware law school. you for being with me. >> my pleasure. >> you wrote an op-ped, it got a whole lot of attention this week, an op-ped in the "washington post." you said donald trump is actually right about this but you also say i'm not a birther, but donald trump is right. explain. >> well, the constitution uses the term, or the phrase, natural-born citizen, as you said, and that comes from the common law. the supreme court has repeatedly said if you have a common-law term in the constitution, you have to look at the common law. when you go back and read the old common law, it's very clear a natural-born citizen is someone born in the territory of the sovereign. here the united states. >> i spoke to addam winkler at u ucla, his argument is you're a natural-born citizen if you're a citizen at birth. here's what we know about ted cruz. yes, he was born in canada. his mother an american citizen. let's play what adam said. >> i think there's no doubt he is eligible to be president. the constitution says yo

. >> joining us now, mary bridget mcmanamon. he's a constitutional law professor at widener university's delaware law school. professor mcmanamon you've written about this for the washington post. what's your reaction to what steve king there said in defense of ted cruz's eligibility? >> he makes a fundamental mistake that a lot of people talking about this mistake. and that is there's this notion of separation of powers. and the power to naturalize, which is to change someone who's an alien into an american citizen-s given to congress. natural-born citizenship is constitutionalized in the second amendment. so whatever the congress did in 1790 doesn't affect article 2. >> so your position on -- your reading of the constitution leads you to what conclusion about ted cruz's eligibility? >> ted cruz is not eligible. i would go further than lawrence tribe and say that the meaning was clear and knowable and the framers of the constitution intended it to be static. just as the 35-year-old requirement and the 14-year residency requirem

michelle obama deciding what patrick christie or bridget christie each for lunch at del barton or at the villa walsh academy. it should be decided by me and maryare private schools too. those are private schools too. but let me ask you a little bit, at the same time this is going on you pocket veto which means you essentially never took it up a bill that would have made recess mandatory in new jersey elementary school. my kids want to know why you did that. >> because i think their teachers should be able to decide and their administrators should be able to decide whether or not they have recess in any particular day. another thing about that bill, neil, was that it mandated outdoor recess. well, you know, on a day like today in new jersey i don't know that we're going to want to have outdoor recess and the kids are going to want to have outdoor recess but the state government would mandate it. this is crazy government run amok. what are we doing? all the other problems we have to deal with, my legislature is worried about recess for kindergartners in fifth grade. part of my job as governor is to veto the stupid bills. that was a stupid bill a