of the president, but here's what he had to say about the news. >> i think if the president had gone through with this or tries to go through with this on a going forward basis, we're in unchartered territory, we're into the real question of fundamentals of our democracy. are we still going to be a country where rule of law pervades and no one even the president is above the law? my hope will be come next week that the congress will take up bipartisan legislation that was around last year that would protect the special prosecutor from these kind of arbitrary actions. >> reporter: now, you notice there at the end he said bipartisan legislation. this will need republican support because they control the house and the senate. but right now, this is overshadowing washington, these breaking developments as the president is set to give his first state of the union address on tuesday. but right now, the mueller investigation is certainly overshadowing it all. >> caitlin collins live from the