Obama at lighting ceremony: A big Christmas tree shines out of the darkness

Flanked by several GOP colleagues who echoed his remarks, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., blasted the president's declaration that the war on terror "must end" as premature and foolhardy, saying that a desire to bring the war "to a compete closure contradicts the reality of the facts on the ground," and arguing that "al Qaeda will be with us for a long time."

Warning of the danger of keeping America on a "perpetual wartime footing," President Obama called for an end to the war on terror, explaining, "Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue, but this war, like all wars, must end - that's what history advises; that's what our democracy demands."

As President Obama outlined a renewed push to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, he was repeatedly interrupted by a protester, Medea Benjamin of advocacy group Code Pink, who accused the president of spurning the rule of law and demanded he immediately close the facility without congressional input. The president chided her for interrupting him but said the issues she raised are "worth paying attention to."

President Obama defended his administration's recently declassified decision to kill Anwar Awlaki, a U.S. citizen in Yemen who was deemed to be a terrorist, explaining, "When a U.S. citizen goes abroad to wage war against America and is actively plotting to kill U.S. citizens...his citizenship should no more serve as a shield than a sniper shooting down on an innocent crowd should be protected from a swat team."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, assures his chamber "won't be stampeded" by the White House and Senate and will "work its will" on immigration legislation - but "don't ask me how," he added.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., asked reporters why it has become "politicized" that the IRS singled out conservative groups for excessive scrutiny, pointing out that Steven Miller, former acting director of the agency, was appointed by George W. Bush. But, she added, "we're all concerned," and said she wished Lois Lerner had not pled the fifth because "the American people deserve answers."