President Obama's Heckled Address on Immigration Policy

President Obama spoke from the Rose Garden about his new executive order, a DREAM Act-like policy that grants work permits to many young immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, and it was punctuated with a mildly dramatic exchange between the president and a reporter.

President Obama spoke from the Rose Garden about his new executive order, a DREAM Act-like policy that grants work permits to many young immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, and it was punctuated with a mildly dramatic exchange between the president and a reporter. The Daily Caller's Neil Munro, identified by several reporters on the scene, seems to have shouted a question in the middle of the president's remarks, and Obama rather angrily stopped his address to say, "Excuse me, sir, this is not time for questions. Not while I'm speaking." Obama later began a sentence addressing Munro to say "and in answer to your question." Munro used that occasion to speak over him and the President, once again flustered, replied, "I'm not looking for an argument" and "The next time I prefer you let me finish my statements before you ask a question." (Let's take bets on whether the White House even gives Munro a "next time" in the press corp.)

Talking Points Memo grabbed a clip of the exchange:

When not doing battle with the press corp, Obama made the basic case for the policy his Homeland Security secretary laid out earlier Friday, which would allow immigrants under 30 to apply for immunity from deportation, and he blamed Republican for failing to put the DREAM Act on his desk before now. He said:

Let's be clear this is not amnesty, this is not immunity, this is not a path to citizenship, it's not a permanent fix. This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people. It is the right thing to do.