Rubio rips Obama on immigration but also faults GOP hard-liners

LAKE BUENA VISTA ? Republican Sen. Marco Rubio accused President Obama of playing politics with immigration, but Rubio also faulted hard-liners in his own party for ignoring the ?human issue? in the debate over people who are in the country illegally.

Speaking to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials at Walt Disney World, Rubio said Obama?s directive last week to halt deportations of the children of illegal immigrants was similar to a solution Rubio had been working on for months while being criticized from the left.

?Of course, a few months later the president takes a similar idea and implements it through executive action, and now it?s the greatest idea in the world. I don?t care who gets the credit. I don?t. But it exposes the fact that this issue is all about politics for some people,? Rubio said.

?I was tempted to come here and rip open the policies of the administration,? said Rubio, who spoke about two hours before Obama was slated to appear before the conference.

?I was tempted to come here and tell you ?Hey, he hasn?t been here in three years. What a coincidence, it?s an election year.? I was tempted to tell you Why didn?t he make this issue a priority,? Rubio said, drawing some laughter.

?I just did tell you, but, that?s not the direction I want to go in my speech because if I did, if that?s what I came here to talk to you about, then I would be doing the exact same thing that I just criticized.?

While criticizing Obama, Rubio also criticized those in his own party who adopt a hard-line stance against illegal immigration.

?The people who are against illegal immigration and make that the core of their argument view it as only a law-and-order issue, but we know it?s much more than that,? Rubio said.

?Yes, it is a law-and-order issue. But it?s also a human issue. These are real people. These are human beings who have children and hopes and dreams. These are people that are doing what virtually any of us would do if our children were hungry, if their countries were dangerous, if they had no hope for the future,? Rubio said, drawing applause.

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