(CNSNews.com) - "So here's the bottom line," President Obama told the American people on Thursday, shortly after the Supreme Court tied 4-4, failing to resolve the question of whether Obama's executive actions on immigration went beyond his constitutional authority.
The ruling effectively blocked Obama's plan to defer deportation for millions more illegal immigrants.
"We've got a very real choice that America faces right now," Obama said at the White House, as he insisted he will continue to do what he's been doing -- implementing the existing DACA (deferred immigration) program for young people who have grown up in the United States.
"We're going to have to make a decision about whether we are a people who tolerate the hypocrisy of a system where the workers who pick our fruit or make our beds never have the chance to get right with the law, or whether we're going to give them a chance, just like our forbears had a chance, to take responsibility and give their kids a better future.
"We're going to have to decide whether we're a people who accept the cruelty of ripping children from their parents' arms, or whether we actually value families and keep them together for the sake of all of our communities," Obama said.
"We're going to have to decide whether we're a people who continue to educate the world's brightest students in our high schools and universities, only to then send them away to compete against us, or whether we encourage them to stay and create new jobs and new businesses right here in the United States."
"These are all the questions that voters now are going to have to ask themselves and are going to have to answer in November...And in November, Americans are going to have to make a decision about what we care about and who we are."
Earlier in his remarks, Obama said "diversity is an important value in our society," and he said immigration is one of the reasons why the U.S. "is such a diverse and inclusive nation."
"Our founders conceived this country as refuge for the world and for more than two centuries, welcoming wave after wave of immigrants has kept us youthful and dynamic and entrepreneurial. It has shaped our character and it has made us stronger," the president said -- never mentioning the difference between legal and illegal immigration.