White House Scrambles After Leaked Immigration Proposal Pronounced DOA

Would create a path to citizenship, but require background checks on new hires

Responding to sharp criticism from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., over the leaked White House immigration proposal, President Obama's chief of staff Denis McDonough pushed back this morning on "This Week,"  saying it was up to Congress to produce immigration reform to ensure the president's proposal would not be sent to Capitol Hill.

"He [Marco Rubio] says its 'dead on arrival' if it's proposed. Well let's make sure that it doesn't have to be proposed," McDonough said in an interview with ABC's Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl. "Let's make sure that that group up there, the 'Gang of Eight,' makes the good progress on these efforts as much as they say they want to."

McDonough said the leaked proposal, reported this weekend by USA Today, reflected an effort to prepare for the immigration reform discussion, but was not a final plan from the White House.