Romney responds to new immigration policy

MILFORD, NH -- Responding to President Obama's major immigration policy shift earlier today, Mitt Romney said the President's actions would make reaching a long-term solution on immigration reform "more difficult." "An executive order is of course just a short-term matter - it can be reversed by subsequent presidents," Romney said in a statement to reporters following an event. "I'd like to see legislation that deals with this issue." Effective immediately, the president's announcement prevents the deportation of about 800,000 illegal immigrants who came to this country as children, and gives them the ability to stay and work legally. It will apply to people younger than 30 who arrived before they were 16, and have lived in the country for at least 5 consecutive years. Romney, however, called for a more permanent solution. "If I'm president, we'll do our very best to have that kind of long-term solution that provides certainty and clarity for the people who come into this country, through no fault of their own, by virtue of the action of their parents." The executive order sounds similar to the DREAM Act - a piece of legislation blocked by Congress in 2010, and not supported by Romney, that would have allowed a path to citizenship for certain young illegal immigrants. Romney has not said if he supports a revised piece of legislation by Senator Marco Rubio, a potential VP pick. Rubio's plan would provide safety to certain young illegal immigrants, but not a path to citizenship. The focus on President Obama's decision has proven to be an unwanted distraction for the Romney campaign -largely overshadowing their highly publicized 5-day, six-state bus tour launched today. And it proves that, despite their greatest efforts, the president still holdd the loudest bully pulpit.