Obama: Immigration leak didn't hurt Senate talks

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks at Hyde Park Academy on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, in Chicago. / AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Updated 9:53 PM ET

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama sought Wednesday to mitigate any damage from the leak of an immigration bill being drafted by the White House, telling a Spanish-language TV network he didn't jeopardize negotiations with the Senate.

Leaks in Washington happen all the time, Obama said, and shouldn't prevent immigration reform from moving forward. He said negotiations are continuing at full speed.

Members of a bipartisan Senate group taking the lead on immigration reform were caught off-guard over the weekend when details of Obama's own bill were published on USA Today's website. Obama has in the past said he's prepping his own bill, but only as a back-up in case congressional talks fail.

• White House: Leaked immigration plan is only partial draft of bill
• GOP: Leaked WH immigration plan "counterproductive"

Some Republicans have questioned whether the leak of a competing bill tied makes it more difficult to strike a deal in the Senate. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the Republicans in the group, said Obama's plan injects partisanship into a tough process. And David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama's re-election campaign, acknowledged that it likely was a mistake for news of Obama's plan to be made public.

Obama said Wednesday he still prefers that Congress — not the White House — craft a viable law to overhaul the nation's immigration system, and that his standby bill doesn't intrude on the bill that senators are hashing out. He said the ideas included in his bill are consistent with the immigration proposals he has advocated for the past several years, meaning they shouldn't come as a surprise to members of either party.

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White House: Obama leaked immigration plan was incomplete

Obama's comments came in an interview with KWEX, San Antonio's Univision affiliate and one of eight local TV stations to sit down with Obama on Wednesday at the White House. KWEX aired the interview in Spanish with a translation of Obama's remarks.

While Obama and the Senate group differ on some key details, both sides are contemplating legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S., tighten border security, crack down on businesses that employ illegal workers and strengthen the legal immigration system.

[Tank_Commander]

If the gutless wonders in DC would have made e-verify mandatory with stiff penalites like fines and jail for employers, then we wouldn't have the unemployment problem for legal American citizens. But no, lets simply give those here illegaly a pass and screw more workers out of getting off of unemployment and into te work force. Of course, once they become voting citizens and joing unions demanding livin wages, your precious cheap groceries, landscaping and construction costs will go up. Its pay me now or pay me later, naturally we know with the sequestration it will hurt like hell becaus we want to delay, diddle, babble and delay some more until the next election cycle.

[nehicks]

As long as there is a "path to citizenship" for illegal aliens, it should not be on the table. NO illegal alien should ever be given the golden apple of citizenship. At most, they only deserve permanent residency. If they don't like the terms, they are free to leave. AS for paying a fine and back taxes, the popular opinion is that these people work the lowest paying jobs. How are they supposed to pay for as much as 30 years back taxes, if they can't prove they have paid any taxes? What happens if they can't? Do we just forgive them and pat them on the back, saying "that's ok, you didn't mean to defraud the people of the U.S., you just wanted a better life"? Can we deport them THEN?

[kcreligion]

It wasn't a cherry tree Obama cut down. It was a Hackberry.

[Ulgnud]

We don't need reform. Simply enforce the law. No Amnesty.