Chris Christie's reaction to Obama's executive order

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie criticized President Obama for the executive order he'll announce Thursday evening, saying "I don't think what he's doing tonight, the method by which he's doing it helps to build a trustful relationship," presumably referring to the President's interactions with Republicans in Congress. Christie, who is attending the Republican Governors Association annual meeting, said "Bipartisanship is not one of the priorities he [President Obama] wants to set."

And Mr. Obama, as far as Christie is concerned, is more at fault for the failure of comprehensive immigration reform than Congress is, for having prioritized his health care law over immigration reform. Christie considers it a matter of choice. "Add to it [the President's] failure to act in the first two years when he had enormous majorities in Congress and in 2008 campaigned to the Hispanic community all across this country that he was going to deal with this issue, and he refused to deal with it, and instead he decided he wanted to do Obamacare. He made a judgment and now he wants to blame it on other people." The Senate passed an immigration bill in June 2013, but the House declined to take up the measure.

Christie added that he hoped the Hispanic community was paying attention. "[President Obama] made his choice. He said that government-run health care was more important than fixing the broken immigration system. I hope the Hispanic community hears that and remembers it."

In spite of his criticism of the president, Christie also struck a more conciliatory note, saying, "I hope he'll change course because the country wants progress and the Republican Congress is going to put things on the president's desk and I hope the president is willing to work with folks."