Nice to see Carney in full Baghdad Bob mode.

Via RCP:

QUESTION: There was a very — one noteworthy difference between what the group of senators is proposing today and what was in that 29-page blueprint on the White House website, and that is that the bipartisan group proposes the path to citizenship be conditioned on tighter border control measures. Now, does the President accept that kind of a linkage would have to come to get a deal?

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: First of all, I think you glided over a very important aspect of this, which is that the set of principles put forward by this bipartisan group embraces the path to citizenship. This is a big deal. This is an important development. This is in keeping with the principles the President has been espousing for a long time, in keeping with bipartisan efforts in the past and with the effort this President believes has to end in a law that he can sign.

When it comes to border security, I think anyone who looks at this honestly will note the tremendous strides we have made in the past four years in protecting our borders. In fact, they have never been better enforced than they are now. And over the past four years this administration has dedicated unprecedented resources to secure the border, taken important steps to make interior and worksite enforcement of our immigration law smarter and more effective. And we have made historic investments in manpower, technology and infrastructure to help secure our borders.

And, like I said, our borders now are more secure than they have ever been in history. That work continues. But I think it’s important, before we let the moment pass, to acknowledge that the progress we’re seeing embodied in the principles put forward by this bipartisan group is happening for a reason. And I think it’s happening because a consensus is developing in the country, a bipartisan consensus; and it’s happening because the President has demonstrated significant leadership on this issue.