There has been a great deal of debate regarding Arizona’s immigration law and the Justice Departments lawsuit – and often the facts have gotten lost in the rhetoric, so I appreciate a President who is speaking plainly and candidly with the American people about this critical issue.

Common sense and comprehensive immigration reform is the best way to fix our broken immigration system and the President has made it clear that comprehensive reform should include a number of crucial elements that are based on the principles of responsibility and accountability.

Responsibility from the federal government for securing out national borders – President Obama has already taken steps to make our border more secure, has dedicated unprecedented resources toward that pursuit, and will continue to take border security seriously.

Responsibility from companies that break the law by hiring undocumented workers, a practice that is known to undermine American workers and exploit illegal immigrants – the President is committed to holding such businesses accountable.

Responsibility from immigrants who are living illegally in the United States – those immigrants must admit they broke the law, pay taxes and a penalty, learn English, and take other measures to get on the right side of the law before they can apply for citizenship.

It is clear that comprehensive immigration reform can no longer wait. Americans from both parties agree that our current immigration system is broken and that it is unacceptable that we have 11 million people living and working illegally in the United States.

In order to fully secure the borders, we must enact comprehensive immigration reform. Such reform is also necessary to guarantee a level playing field for American workers and to continue the tradition of innovation by immigrants who have brought new ideas and new prosperity to the American economy.

But in order to enact such reforms, we need bipartisan Congressional support – the same kind of support that has existed in the past but seems to have disappeared now that Democrats are in the majority and in the White House. President Obama simply cannot fix America’s immigration system by himself. But his leadership on the issue is commendable, as are the good faith efforts of Congressional leaders who have worked to move forward with immigration reform based on a bipartisan framework.

Unfortunately, instead of such cooperation, Republicans in the Senate have stonewalled everything from extending unemployment benefits to tax cuts; they’ve opposed holding oil companies accountable for the damage caused by the spill in the Gulf; and they are blocking 63 of the President’s highly qualified nominees, many of whom have great support from both parties.

Why didn’t Arizona lawmakers pass this law during the eight years that George W. Bush was president? Because this is just another attempt to blame the current president and Congressional Democrats for a problem that has been decades in the making.

Immigration reform has been put off for too long. Today, it’s a symptom of a more systemic problem – Republican obstructionism in the Senate. Right now, America is facing a number of challenges, and we need our leaders to come together cooperatively and with common purpose in order to address those challenges.