Poll: Obama gets big boost from immigration decision

>>> president obama is getting a major boost after announcing to stop the deportation for 800,000 young illegal immigrants . a new latino decision poll finds 49% are more enthusiastic after friday's landmark decision . a 27-point jump from january. and the decision has put some pressure on romney who five times dodged questions on what he'd do with the president's new immigration policy .

>> would you repeal this?

>> it would be overtaken by events if you will by my placing a long-term solution.

>> i won't keep on about this. would you leave this in place while you worked out a long-term solution or would you just repeal it?

>> we'll look at that setting as we reach that but my an anticipation is to say we need to get this done on a long-term bas basis.

>> i'm joined by chip saltsman and goldy taylor. good morning.

>> good morning.

>> good morning.

>> do you think, chip, that mitt romney missed an opportunity to show some leadership? does this kind of -- i don't know, reinforce the knock used in the pry theirs? shouldn't he be answer to question that in a straight forward manner? here's what i'm going to do as president.

>> yeah. i think he'll do that and had a great opportunity on sunday to do it and probably hearing it tuesday or wednesday and this is an issue to deal with a lot as governor. the federal government 's lack of leadership on this issue has cost the states because the state haves to deal with this every day because the states are the ones using health care dollars and education dollars to take care of the illegal immigration . he probably has the answer he wants.

>> then why didn't he say it?

>> i'm not sure. as you know, i'm not involved in the romney campaign. obviously, i'm for him. support him. i think he would be a much better president than barack obama but i think it's a great opportunity because this is an issue, especially the president's decision 140 days out. you look at the decisions that are political and policy. and this was probably not bad politics because it changed the discussion of a couple of weeks which is bad for barack obama and now one sunday show where governor romney doesn't quite get the answer he probably should or wants to get out and then now that's a conversation we are having.

>> republicans are accusing the president of playing politics with the decision. let's play a clip of john mccain on "meet the press."

>> obviously, a way to divert attention from the bad news of the president for three or four weeks. i think that's very clear. what i would like to see is marco rubio and others are coming up, democrats and republicans with a dream act i think we could negotiate on.

>> wasn't about politics. first of all, this is a decision made by the department of homeland security to allow the discretion to focus enforcement on criminals, people who pose danger to communities.

>> goldy , was this a blatantly political move?

>> 141 days out, every move is a blatantly political move and i don't care if the person in the white house is democrat or republican and if you're in the white house for the last three and a half years you have to think and look forward how do you keep the job? and keep doing the job if you think it's the right job to do. i think it it is political but i think it's the right thing to do. look. if republicans had gotten together with this president and the democratic congress on the dream act and gotten it passed that was a comprehensive solution that answered those people who are in this country through no fault of their own, albeit illegally an giving them their chance at the american dream . i served side by side with young men and women who did not have their citizenship in this country but served in the same armed forces that i did. and i believe that they deserved it. unfortunately, we are giving them the citizenship posthumously. after they have been killed in battle. that's most unfortunate and i think it's political but the republicans had an opportunity back when the dream act was on the table to pass it and make it law and make us a, you know, a community of compassionate people.

>> even if, chip, there's politics involved in the decision. i think goldy makes a good point of everything's political at this point.

>> especially at this point, no question.

>> does that matter? if you're a college student who's graduating and wants to find a job and make a contributi contribution, does that matter? look at the new poll.

>> yeah. no. there's no question if you're a young latino that's here illegally and you hear about this you're more enthusiastic to vote for the president. looking at this policy, is that the end of the day when you start out by saying illegal immigrants and then give them a special status or a special favor. that's getting most people very upset. and i think you're right. there's solutionless out there to make sense but i think the first and foremost is say let's do it the legal way and step one and broke in to the country. i have always said this. if you knock on the door and ask me to come in, i'll invite you in for a glass of lemonade. breaking in the back window, we have a much different discussion and where we have to start out with illegal immigration .

>> the question is, you know, there's another whole question of whether or not this is the best way to deal with this. i think the way michael steele put it this morning on " morning joe " is this is a big band aid on a big wound. does he have a point there?

>> he does have a point. that is band aid on a very, very large wound but i won't indict a 5-year-old to break in to anything let alone this nation. we have got to come together with a solution. yes to secure the border but at the end of the day we are at a net loss. people are not coming here in the midst of the worst economic downturn of down times and we are hurts yourselves. right here in georgia we have crops rotting in the fields because we don't have the kind of labor necessary to do the picking. this is reminiscent of the same kind of discrimination towards migrant workers in the 1915 to 1970 and african-americans moved north and the fruits rotted in the trees in florida. we have got to come together with a better solution that doesn't hurt states like this one economically.

>> great conversation. thanks to both of you.