President Obama hosts Hanukkah reception

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."

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., says the IRS "stonewalled" congressional committees investigating the agency's targeting scandal, warning that if IRS officials are not more forthcoming, "You will leave us no alternative but to ask for the appointment of a special prosecutor...to get to the bottom of this."

While maintaining that the White House tries to provide information as "quickly as possible and as comprehensively as possible," press secretary Jay Carney, after more than a week of being battered by reporters for his halting disclosure of information related to various controversies, admitted, "There have been some legitimate criticisms about how we're handling this...And I say 'legitimate' because I mean it."