Barack Obama: “That was the right thing to do, and the necessary thing to do.”

It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say.

And I will fight for that, even if I don’t always think it’s going to win.

I’m going to insist that we can do better than we’re doing right now.

I think when we act on that basis, it doesn't always work out, but over time things do get better.