As most Americans slept, the Senate bipartisan Gang of Eight formally filed the long-awaited “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Bill of 2013,” releasing a flood of responses from pro-reform groups that had been waiting for the legislative text.

Clocking in at 844 pages, the legislation proposes a 13-year path to citizenship for qualified undocumented immigrants along with ambitious goals to secure the nation’s southern border and a realignment of legal immigration systems to favor more employment-based visas.

After 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, the bill was posted online in its entirety. (you can read it here)

A bipartisan House group that has been working behind the scenes on its own compromise bill applauded the upper chamber’s legislation and said it hopes to reach its own agreement “soon.”

“We believe we will soon agree on a reasonable, common-sense plan to finally secure our borders and strengthen our economy with a tough but fair process that respects the rule of law so immigrants can contribute to our country,” said the group, which includes eight members of Congress. “While we have made substantial progress, we continue to work diligently towards a bill that keeps America strong, competitive and true to our values.”

The statement was signed by Democrats Xavier Becerra and Zoe Lofgren of California,  Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and John Yarmuth of Kentucky; and Republicans John Carter and Sam Johnson of Texas, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, and Raul Labrador of Idaho.  

Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus also praised the bipartisan spirit of the effort and expressed optimism about the legislative process.

The Chamber, which was heavily involved in negotiating a compromise on temporary workers with labor union AFL-CIO as the bill was being drafted, praised the proposal for including its goals for border security measures, worker visa expansions, a path to citizenship and an E-Verify system.

“There is no doubt that there will be additional input and analysis through Senate hearings and amendments, and we look forward to being part of that needed process,” the Chamber wrote in a statement.

NCLR, a top Latino group, similarly applauded the “courage” of the Senate members for working across party lines.

“This legislation, while not perfect, is a monumental step forward in ensuring that this nation has a fair, humane and effective 21st-century immigration policy that serves our nation’s best interests and works for all Americans, including families, workers and businesses,” wrote NCLR president Janet Murguía

Stakeholders will work to tweak the legislation to address their particular concerns as the bill wends its way through Congress. Civil liberties groups are wary of the employment verification system, and many pro-citizenship groups (in sync with the White House) have expressed skepticism in the past about the idea of security “triggers” that must be met before the legalization process can begin for undocumented immigrants.

The bill will also be strongly opposed by those who say the measure rewards lawbreakers, harms American jobs and costs too much during an economically perilous era.

This story was originally published on Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:23 AM EDT

Drafters are racing to complete the text of a comprehensive immigration reform bill slated to be unveiled on Tuesday, with minor loose ends causing some in the Senate’s Gang of Eight to urge a delay to presenting the sweeping legislation.

But, with pressure growing after multiple missed deadlines for the completion of the reform bill, sources within the group tell NBC News that the proposal is still likely to be formally presented in a press conference tomorrow.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was expected to hold its first hearing on the legislation on Wednesday, but that has now been postponed to Friday. An additional hearing will be held next Monday as well. 

Senate Republicans and Democrats have yet to be briefed on the legislation in their respective formal meetings. The bill includes the opportunity -- if certain border security criteria have been met -- for qualified undocumented immigrants to obtain probationary legal status for 10 years before becoming eligible to apply for a visa.

Republicans are expected to meet tonight at 5:45 pm to review the plan within their own conference. (Lead GOP negotiator Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was originally scheduled to brief his colleagues last week, but lengthy discussion of pending gun legislation pushed the presentation off the agenda.)At noon on Tuesday, Republicans also plan to sell the plan to outside conservative interest groups.

Democrats have yet not scheduled an internal briefing but would likely share the bill with colleagues during a regularly scheduled Tuesday lunch meeting tomorrow.  

Women are a key driver of support for legislation overhauling the nation's gun and immigration laws, according to new data in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, just as Congress prepares to take up major legislation on both of those issues.

Women outpace men in their support for stricter gun laws and immigration reform that provides undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship, data which becomes more salient in light of the Republican Party’s effort to regain its footing with women voters after last fall’s elections.

View full poll results here

The gender gap is most pronounced when it comes to the issue of stricter gun controls, legislation on which the Senate voted to begin consideration this Thursday.

Sixty-five percent of women said they favor stricter laws governing the sale of firearms, versus just 5 percent who favor less strict laws. Twenty-seven percent of women said the law should be kept as it is now. By comparison, 44 percent of men favor stricter gun laws, while 41 percent said laws should stay the same.

(Also of note: Self-described mothers favor stricter gun laws even more overwhelmingly; 70 percent of mothers with children in the home said that laws governing firearm sales should be tightened.)

While the gap is less pronounced, women respondents in this month’s NBC/WSJ poll were more sympathetic to arguments in favor of comprehensive immigration reform.

Women favor immigration reform that allows a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants by a 36-point margin. Sixty-seven percent of women said they would favor such a proposal, versus 31 percent who would oppose those reforms. Men also favor immigration reform, but by a slightly slimmer, 60 percent to 38 percent spread.

When explained that a pathway to citizenship would involve paying a fine, any back taxes, passing a security background check and taking other measures, men and women would favor immigration reform at roughly the same levels: Seventy-eight percent of women favor such a proposal, versus 74 percent of men.

The gender gap also extends to some high-profile social issues at the forefront of American political debate at the moment, like same-sex marriage.

In the poll, women favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry, 56 percent to 40 percent. Men, by contrast, favor allowing same-sex marriages, 50 percent to 43 percent. (That's a relatively seismic shift for men; in the March 2004 NBC/WSJ poll, just 26 percent of men favored gay marriage, while 52 percent opposed.)

The poll was conducted April 5-8, and has a 4.3 percent margin of error for the subsample of women, and a 4.5 percent margin of error for the subsample of men.

With a bipartisan group of senators expected to unveil immigration-reform legislation in the next few days, a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans – including eight-in-10 Latinos – support giving undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.

A slight majority of Republican respondents oppose this path, possibly foreshadowing the resistance which any comprehensive immigration reform bill might receive, especially in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

But when Republicans hear that a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants includes paying fines and back taxes, almost three-quarters of them support the idea.

What’s more, a majority of the public – for the first time in the poll – agrees with the statement that immigration strengthens the nation, reflecting a shift in attitude on this issue. 

Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted this survey with the Democratic firm Hart Research Associates, says that this change in sentiment on immigration “speaks to something potent,” particularly given the economic struggles of the past five years.

"These more positive attitudes provide more leeway for lawmakers to build support for change on this issue," McInturff adds.

View the poll results here

On other matters, the poll shows a majority of the public favors stricter gun laws, President Barack Obama’s approval rating falling below 50 percent for the first time since Oct. 2012, and fewer than two-in-10 Americans saying the automatic budget cuts known as “the sequester” have significantly affected them.

Immigration – a strength or weakness?
A majority (54 percent) agrees with the statement that immigration adds to the nation’s character and strengthens it by bringing diversity and talent to the country.

Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

Tens of thousands of immigration reform supporters march in the "Rally for Citizenship" on the West Lawn of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 10, 2013.

In a 2010 NBC/WSJ survey, fewer than half of respondents agreed with that statement, and in 2005, a plurality said that immigration weakened the nation.

Additionally, the Democratic Party holds a 7-point advantage over the Republican Party on the question of which party does a better job in dealing with immigration.

Among an oversample of Latino respondents, the Democratic edge increases to 26 points.

Regarding the current legislative debate over immigration, 64 percent of respondents say they favor allowing undocumented immigrants to have the opportunity to become legal American citizens.

That includes 82 percent of Latinos, 80 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of political independents supporting a path to citizenship.

But 51 percent of Republicans oppose it, versus 47 percent who back it.

Yet when told that the pathway to citizenship would require paying fines and back taxes, as well as passing a security-background check, support grows – with 76 percent of total respondents, and 73 percent of Republicans backing the path.

That pathway to citizenship is the heart of a comprehensive immigration reform proposal that the so-called “Gang of Eight” senators – including Democrats Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin and Republicans John McCain and Marco Rubio – are drafting and plan to introduce in the next few days.

The proposal also calls for strengthening the U.S.-Mexico border, tying that security to establishing the path to citizenship and expanding legal immigration.

A majority of all respondents (51 percent) believe undocumented immigrants should be eligible for citizenship five years after application. Just 12 percent say the eligibility should occur after 10 years, and only 18 percent believe citizenship should be immediate.

On border security, nearly two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) think the U.S.-Mexico border is “mostly” or “totally” not secure, compared with a smaller percentage of Latino respondents (49 percent) who believe that.

55 percent favor stricter gun laws
In addition to immigration, Congress is grappling with the issue of gun control, with the Senate expected to vote on Thursday whether to begin debate on a Democratic-backed measure requiring background checks for most gun sales.

According to the poll, 55 percent favor stricter laws covering the sale of firearms.

That’s down 6 points from the Feb. 2013 NBC/WSJ poll – conducted after Obama’s State of the Union address that contained a call to action on gun control – but it’s essentially unchanged from the Jan. 2013 poll.

Yet there’s a wide political divide to these numbers: 82 percent of Democrats favor stricter gun laws, while just 27 percent of Republicans do.

Obama’s approval rating drops to 47 percent
Despite majorities backing the broad outlines of his legislative priorities on immigration and guns, President Obama confronts a pessimistic public and declining poll numbers.

Only 31 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction – a decline of 10 points since Dec. 2012.

His overall job-approval rating stands at 47 percent, which is down 3 points since February and which represents the first time he’s been below 50 percent since just before the 2012 election.

In addition, 47 percent approve of the president’s economic handling (up three points from February), and 46 percent approve of his handling of foreign policy (down six from Dec. 2012).

Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research says that the public’s sour attitude, particularly on the economy, has “dragged down” Obama’s numbers.

Sequester’s limited impact (so far)
Lastly, the NBC/WSJ poll finds that only a combined 16 percent of Americans say the automatic across-the-board budget cuts that went into effect earlier in the year have impacted them either “a great deal” or “quite a bit.”

By comparison, a whopping 75 percent say the cuts to military and non-military programs have affected them “just some” or “not much.”

But a plurality of respondents – 47 percent – believe the cuts will mostly harm the economy, versus 30 percent who say they won’t have an impact.

The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted of 1,000 adults (including 300 cell phone-only respondents) from April 5-8, and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.

First Lady Michelle Obama got emotional today in Chicago during a speech about gun violence. In front of a group of Chicago business and civic leaders the first lady’s voice cracked as she talked about meeting with the classmates of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, a Chicago teenager who was shot and killed earlier this year.

“It is hard to know what to say to a roomful of teenagers that are about to bury their best friend.  But I started by telling them that Hadiya was clearly on her way to doing something truly worthy with her life. I told them that there is a reason that we're here on this earth. That each of us has a mission in this world and I urged them to use their lives to give meaning to Hadiya's life." The first lady continued, her voice breaking, "I urged them to dream as big as she did and work as hard as she did and live a life that honors every last bit of her God-given promise."

Obama was the featured speaker at a luncheon that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel organized to urge local business leaders to raise $50 million for programs that serve at-risk youth. But her appearance was also a part of a coordinated White House effort this week to push Congress to vote on gun violence measures. The effort started with President Barack Obama's appearance Monday in Connecticut and will culminate with Vice President Joe Biden sitting down for a roundtable on gun violence on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," set to air Thursday morning.

The first lady echoed her husband's State of the Union speech: "Right now my husband is fighting as hard as he can and engaging as many people as he can to pass common-sense reforms to protect our children against gun violence. And these reforms deserve a vote in Congress."

And Obama spoke candidly about how she felt attending the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton.

"What I realized is Hadiya's family was just like my family. Hadiya Pendleton was me and I was her. But I got to grow up and go to Princeton and Harvard Law School and have a career and family and the most blessed life I can imagine. And Hadiya, well we know that story."

She slammed home her point about the need for community engagement as she continued to compare herself to the slain teen.

"See, at the end of the day, this is the point I want to make: That resources matter. ... I had a community that supported me and a neighborhood where I felt safe. And in the end that was the difference between growing up and becoming a lawyer, a mother and First Lady of the United States, and being shot dead at the age of 15. And that is why this new fund that you have created here in Chicago is so important."

Following her speech, Obama met with 19 students at a South Side high school where gun violence has had a profound impact on the student body. In the last year, Harper High has seen 29 current or former students shot. Eight of those victims died from their wounds.

Two key senators have reached a deal to expand background checks to firearms sales at gun shows and on the Internet, sources close to the negotiations said early Wednesday.  

Sen. Pat Toomey, a conservative Pennsylvania Republican, plan to announce the deal Wednesday with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who holds an A rating from the National Rifle Association. 

The two have been working on a compromise proposal that could draw Republican support for expanding background checks. On Tuesday evening, the two had an agreement in principle, and spent the night hammering out the final details. 

The compromise doesn't go as far as the universal background checks that President Barack Obama first envisioned in the wake of the Newtown shootings. The Manchin-Toomey compromise will include exemptions for some transactions, such as those between family members. 

Michael Patrick / AP file

People crowd the RK Gun Show in the Smokies Friday, Dec. 28, 2012 in Knoxville, Tenn.

Outlines of the compromise have been circulated to the National Rifle Association, and sources close to the negotiations said it's unclear where the group stands although the powerful lobby is unlikely to support it. 

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, set up a possible Thursday vote on gun legislation.

The deal between Toomey and Manchin represents a major breakthrough for a package of new gun laws that Obama proposed in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14.  

Support from the conservative Toomey, who also carries an A rating from the NRA, could give other, more moderate Republicans cover to vote in favor of a bill to expand background checks for gun sales beyond just those conducted through licensed dealers.

In recent days, Obama's gun control agenda has been imperiled on Capitol Hill. While Democratic leaders have promised votes on an assault weapons ban and new limits on high capacity magazines, neither can realistically pass the Senate. And a deal on background checks has eluded Democrats for months -- threatening to leave the president with only stricter gun trafficking laws to show for a prolonged, emotional national plea for tighter restrictions on firearms after 20 young children and 6 educators were gunned down in Connecticut.

But there was new momentum for gun legislation Tuesday as Republican senator after Republican senator announced they wouldn't support a filibuster that would prevent gun legislation from even coming up for debate. A trio of conservatives -- Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah -- are leading the filibuster effort, with support from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. But as Tuesday wore on, as many as 10 Republican senators said they could not support it or left the door open to allowing Democrats to bring the measure up on the floor. 

"The purpose of the United States Senate is to debate and to vote and to let the people know where we stand," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday. "What are we afraid of?"

On Tuesday night, Reid officially filed gun legislation that's been written by Democrats. It sets up a possible Thursday vote to open debate on guns. Senate aides said debate on gun legislation could continue through next week and even into the following week. The Manchin-Toomey compromise would likely be the first amendment offered to the package. 

The vote to open debate is tricky for some Democrats who hail from conservative states like Arkansas, where the NRA and other pro-gun groups hold significant sway. But Republican movement in favor of it could help protect them and increases the chances that the vote will succeed.

Now, a key question is how conservatives who've signed on to filibuster the gun bill decide to proceed. They haven't ruled out taking a stand on the Senate floor, similar to Paul's 14-plus-hour talkathon opposing drone strikes on American citizens.

That has some Republicans on edge. One member of Senate leadership, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to violate personal confidences, said there's a sense among the top GOP lawmakers that such a public display could further damage the already-battered Republican brand.

But McConnell, who's up for re-election in 2014, vowed Tuesday to stay the course and filibuster the bill.

"It clearly had no bipartisan support in committee," he said. 

NBC News' Frank Thorp and Mike O'Brien contributed to this report

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 9, 2013 7:19 PM EDT

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would look to bring new gun control legislation to a vote as early as Thursday, just as it has become increasingly clear that minority Republicans won’t be able to block a vote on those measures.

T.J. Kirkpatrick / Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks to the press after the weekly Senate Democrats policy luncheon on March 19, 2013 in Washington, DC.

Reid said that he would move to cut off debate on a gun control law on  Tuesday evening with hopes of beginning votes as soon as Thursday on existing Democratic legislation passed out of committee last month. The Senate’s top Democrat said he would be willing to consider any agreement covering universal background checks – the centerpiece of the new gun control proposals – if a bipartisan pair of senators could reach one. In the meanwhile, Reid said Tuesday that he would press forward.

The Nevada senator’s position has been strengthen as a series of Republican senators – in the face of mounting pressure from President Barack Obama – have said they would not join with their more conservative colleagues to force Reid to produce a filibuster-proof 60 or more votes to move forward with debate on gun legislation.

Related: GOP miscalculates on filibuster?

One by one – starting with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., saying on Sunday that he would not support a filibuster – Republican senators have said they favor allowing an up-or-down vote on the new gun proposals, as long they are allowed to offer amendments during the process. A handful of GOP senators said on Tuesday alone that they would not join a filibuster, enabling Reid to begin the process of bringing one of the Obama administration’s top domestic priorities to a vote.

The movement comes as lawmakers come under increasing political pressure from the administration, as well as the family members of victims of December’s deadly elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. – the tragedy which prompted the renewed push for gun laws.

Obama has led Democrats in demanding that victims’ families, if nothing else, “deserve a vote,” especially given the relative popularity of proposals like universal background checks (which coincidentally makes up the centerpiece of Obama’s gun initiative).

But talks toward a deal on background checks have continued to flounder. Sens. Joe Manchin, a pro-guns Democrat from West Virginia, has been working with Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, to reach an accord on the provision. But all signs point to Reid deciding to move forward – likely by bringing an existing, Democratic bill to a vote – if talks between Manchin and Toomey are unable to yield an agreement.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

The Republican reluctance to filibuster, though, has given Manchin and Toomey some breathing room to negotiate a deal. The pair could easily keep talking past tonight's deadline, and an agreement could be included in a bill later in the process.

Due to Senate rules, that means the earliest point at which votes could begin on gun issues is Thursday.

There are still real obstacles, though, to moving a major gun control law forward.

Foremost among them is the filibuster threat from a group of conservative Republicans, which enjoys the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Democrats believe that as many as 10 Republican senators could join them in ending a filibuster, though the majority Democrats could suffer defections; Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, who faces a tough re-election battle in ruby-red Arkansas, could oppose moving forward with the bill.

Moreover, Republicans who object to the new gun laws could wage a so-called “talking filibuster” similar to the one waged earlier this year by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in protest of the Obama administration’s drone strike policy. In such a scenario, Republican senators might look to speak for hours on end to delay a vote on the gun laws, and bring national attention to their side of the issue.

Some Senate Republicans have quietly started working on a once-stalled compromise effort to expand background checks for guy buyers. It’s a glimmer of progress for a critical component of the gun control legislation the Senate plans to take up next week. 

At the top of that engagement list: Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, a conservative Republican with a strong rating from the National Rifle Association. Senate aides familiar with the developments said that Toomey is engaged in talks with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who’s also reaching out to a number of other GOP senators. 

Also engaged in discussions with Manchin is Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, Senate aides said, although those conversations haven't progressed as far. Toomey, meanwhile, is also discussing a separate plan being circulated by Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn.

Coburn had been at the core of Democratic efforts to reach a compromise on background checks. But they couldn’t get over concerns about how to keep records of private gun sales. According to multiple Senate aides, Coburn is now passing around his own proposal, hoping to garner significant GOP support for a plan that would expand background checks but not require private merchants to keep records of the guns they sell.

Coburn's office denied the Oklahoma doctor is shopping his own bill.

Toomey has yet to officially sign on to any proposal.

"Sen. Toomey and his staff are talking to a lot of folks both in Pennsylvania and in the Capitol on the issues of guns in the hopes we get to an approach that works," said Toomey spokeswoman E.R. Anderson.

Focus on Manchin and his conversations are now a priority for Democratic leaders. It’s a shift from weeks of stasis following the failed talks with Coburn, and represents at least the potential for a breakthrough on President Barack Obama's proposed package of new gun laws.

Recommended: Obama to offer compromise budget to Republicans

In the coming weeks, the Senate plans to vote on a bill that would expand background checks to private gun sales and make gun trafficking and straw purchasing (purchasing a gun and giving it someone who couldn’t legally obtain one) a federal crime. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised votes on an assault weapons ban and a measure to outlaw high-capacity magazines.

The new engagement reflects the complicated political realities emerging in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings that killed 20 elementary school children and 6 adults. Obama wants action on the issue -- possibly even if he has to sacrifice some of what gun control advocacy groups are pushing for. 

"What the president wants to sign is the strongest gun bill he can sign," senior White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Thursday at an event sponsored by Politico. "What we have to make sure is that whatever we do is better than current law."

Reid wants to show that the Senate is taking action -- "In order to be effective, any bill that passes the Senate must include background checks," he said last month -- but he has to protect Democratic lawmakers who hail from rural, Republican-leaning states like Arkansas if he wants to maintain a Democratic majority in the upper chamber. 

Most of the Republicans who are willing to talk, meanwhile, hail from swing states with lots of suburban voters open to new controls following Newtown. For Toomey, for example, that's the thousands of voters who live outside big cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

"There are people who do want something to vote for," said a Senate Republican aide familiar with the conversations. The numbers, after all, are there: polls show overwhelming numbers of Americans support background checks for all gun buyers.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday insisted "there doesn't have to be a conflict" between respecting gun rights and enacting new gun controls as he tries to use the power of his office to prompt a reluctant Congress to take action in the wake of the Newtown shootings.

But he declared: "This is not easy."

Obama flew to Colorado to advocate for a Senate bill requiring background checks for every gun buyer; a new law in the Centennial State requires just that.

"The loopholes that currently exist in the law have allowed way too many criminals and folks who shouldn't be getting guns -- it's allowed them to avoid background checks entirely," Obama said in a speech at the Denver Police Academy.

"Colorado has shown that practical progress is possible."

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

President Barack Obama greets military personnel upon his arrival at Buckely Air Base in Denver, Colorado April 3, 2013.

Obama’s visit to Denver is part of a push to try to maintain -- or at this point, reignite -- momentum for stricter gun laws in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children and 6 adults.

Lawmakers are preparing to consider new gun laws on the Senate floor in the next two weeks, a package that Obama says is "commonsense" reform.

"We're not proposing a gun registration system; we're proposing background checks for criminals," he said Wednesday in Denver.

But the president acknowledged how difficult the path has become -- even for background checks, one of the less dramatic pieces of gun control legislation he proposed earlier this year.

"We knew from the beginning the change wouldn't be easy and we knew there would be powerful voices that would try to" stop gun laws, Obama said. "We knew they'd try to make any progress collapse under the weight of fear or frustration or maybe people would just stop paying attention."

Obama said that powerful gun advocates -- though he didn't name the National Rifle Association – are stoking fears that the background check bill amounts to a plan to take citizens' weapons away.

"We can't do background checks because the government's going to come take my guns away," the president said, paraphrasing the NRA's argument. Obama's retort: "The government's us. These officials are elected by you," he said, arguing that gun advocates "have ginned up fears among responsible gun owners that have nothing to do with what's being proposed and nothing to do with the facts." 

Colorado is a largely rural, western state with a strong hunting tradition -- and a sad history of mass shootings. Obama's event is planned not far from the Aurora movie theater where 12 people were gunned down last year -- now, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for alleged shooter James Holmes.

The state recently enacted a new package of gun laws that in some ways mirror what Obama and Vice President Joe Biden proposed after Newtown. Colorado didn't ban assault weapons, but the state did limit high capacity magazines to 15 rounds of ammunition and now requires anyone who wants to buy a gun to get a background check.

But that law passed through a state legislature controlled by Democrats -- and was signed by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper. That's a much easier path than Obama faces in Washington, where Senate Republicans and the NRA have all but stalled his gun control efforts.

Most of Obama's initial plan to curb gun violence in the wake of Newtown, including an assault weapons ban and a ban on high-capacity magazines, has no hope of passing the Senate. The background check plan has little Republican support -- and even a less controversial measure to make gun trafficking a federal crime is now facing some resistance.

"I'll be blunt, a lot of members of Congress, this is tough for them," Obama said. 

As senators take up the bill next week, Obama plans to travel to Hartford, Conn., to call for stricter gun controls. Connecticut state lawmakers are currently considering one of the toughest new gun laws in the nation. 

This story was originally published on Wed Apr 3, 2013 4:22 PM EDT

Quite the alliance is forming on Capitol Hill. How about this grouping? Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, James Inhofe, and Marco Rubio.

Inhofe and Rubio (R-FL) have signed onto a letter threatening to filibuster any gun restrictions, according to Inhofe's office.

The letter was originally signed by tea party favorite Sens. Paul (R-KY) and Lee (R-UT), and joined by Cruz (R-TX).

It reads:

Dear Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,

We, the undersigned intend to oppose any legislation that would infringe on the American people's constitutional right to bear arms, or on their ability to exercise this right without being subjected to government surveillance.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution protects citizens' right to self-defense. It speaks to history's lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history's warning about the oppression of a government that tries.

We will oppose the motion to proceed to any legislation that will servce as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions.

The vowed opposition further complicates Democrats' efforts to pass gun legislation, post-Newtown, and makes it more likely that any effort will need Republican support to achieve the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster.