0 and nail, and i promise you there will be no rock left unturned as far as trying to stop him from usurping the constitution. >> okay. on the house side rand paul is not alone. u.s. congressman steve stockman of east texas hasn't ruled out impeachment after hearing the president may use executive orders for some gun safety measures. he released a statement saying in part, i will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the white house, and even filing articles of impeachment. the president's actions are not just an attack on the constitution, he says, and a violation of his sworn oath of office, they are a direct attack on americans that place all of us in danger. if the president is allowed to suspend constitutional rights on his own personal whims, our free republic has effectively ceased to exist. governor, these people talk as if we haven't elected our government. they talk like it's a monarchy from england. this is the crazy talk here in this country. the government treated as a foreign institution, something way out somewhere controlled by not even americans, but by the enemies of america, and now they talk about guns that they need to have in hand in case they have to go to work dealing with that government basically with firepower. this language is brand new to me. it seems to me this used to be posse comitatus talk out in idaho. now it's become the normal lingua franca of the republican party. >> first of all, both stockman and paul don't have a clue what's in the 18 or 19 things the president is going to do by executive order. my belief is they're mostly about collection of data, not exactly frontal assault on the second amendment. so they should wait and see what they are before they start popping off. in terms of the major things, background checks for everybody, ending the high capacity magazines, assault weapons ban, those are things that still have to go before a congress for a vote. to tell you the truth, although it's a little scary to hear these people, i am also not displeased when i hear these wacko comments because it drives more and more people who are on the fence over to our side saying, look, these guys are nuts, we've got to have sensible gun laws. and we do have to have sensible gun laws. let me tell you for every representative stockman, there's representative dent and fitzpatrick and gerlach who -- >> explain that because you know that suburban politics where you have republicans representing moderate political communities, and how will they react. >> not just philadelphia, but in st. louis, chicago, cleveland, and places like that, and those republicans are going to face a real tough decision. they stay with the nra and they endanger their re-election because in those districts, 70%, 80% of the people want these sensible measures. they want background checks for everyone, no exceptions. they want high capacity magazines banned. they want assault rifles banned. the -- >> in the days of yesteryear. >> in the days of yesteryear, and i think they need to get back to that. >> you know the politics. why have they gone to this rejectionist -- >> i'll be the washington cynic, and the fact is it's fund raising and membership. and you look -- >> is it gun sales? >> absolutely gun sales, ammunition, from ammunition to guns. take that off the table. you still have the slaughter of 20 innocents here. that's what is driving the american people. that's the focus of our community right now is if this can happen in newtown, massachusetts, it's certainly happening in chicago -- >> respond to what the governor said about the suburban republicans who aren't right wingers. if you were still party chair, what language would you -- how would you position your party on guns? >> i would position it where the party has always been, working towards common sense solutions that, number one, enforce those currently on the book. there are good, enforceable laws on the book. two, let's look at where the loopholes are, if that's the gun shows, if that's, you know, with having a database that's incomplete, let's fix those things because, again, that's where the nra has been. >> governor, you made the point that a lot of the things being talked about, the president will come out with tomorrow. we don't know for sure, but we got a pretty good line with "the new york times" today. look at these. i don't think these are at all authoritarian, as you pointed out. a tougher prosecution of people who lie on their background checks. why would the nra be for people lying on their background checks? >> they should be supportive of that. >> and this other one, research on gun violence. i don't know what research scares anybody. this one, limits on guns imported from overseas. i mean, is that something the president can do by executive order? i don't know. >> i'm not sure either. >> what about this -- this is a good one. sharing of mental health records. this is an aclu question. this comes from the other end politically, right, michael? >> absolutely right. >> you might find people on what we call the political left -- >> who have a problem. >> we don't want the word out with everybody with an emotional -- every time you go to a psychiatrist and you have a problem, do you really want that to be -- do you want to be put on a list? >> chris -- >> for purposes of checking to see whether you're gun eligible, that becomes an issue. >> are these only court-ordered situations, governor? >> yeah. >> when they say put a database -- only people with court ordered action. >> the one thing that the nra has said other than the guns in schools, the one thing they have said they're for is tightening up the mental health reporting. so this is one where the nra is even for it. how is that an assault on anything? >> let's try to get into the mind of some of these yahoos talking like this guy. yaeger is out there saying he's -- this is a so-called apology. let's look at this. here he is. you might recall this is last week, this kind of disturbing guy came out and talked about tactical response, about shooting people in response to white house action on guns. well, now he's sort of recanting. here is a bit of his semiautomatic apology. >> i said some pretty volatile stuff, which i apologize for. i do not in any way advocate the overthrowing of the united states government nor do i condone any violent actions towards any elected officials. it's not time to shoot anybody. it is -- what it is time to do is to organize politically, contact our elected officials, and help steer the ship the direction that we want it to go. >> well, as my old boss tip o'neill would say, timing is everything. and this guy, the term timing refers to when you begin firing. he says there's still time to talk to these people before -- it's not time to shoot anybody. maybe that's just his way of speaking but to most people it sounds like english. and it sounds like this guy might be fire when ready or whatever when it's appropriate. firing at government officials. >> right. we don't need to do it right now, but if things get worse, we have to do it. look, all those guys do is drive ordinary, responsible people to the conclusion that we've got to do something and we've got to do it now. >> well, and i agree -- >> again, i hate to put you back in your pocket, in the republican party, but will they allow themselves to be positioned by the press or by their numbers or by their crazy people into being the party as i said, the party of guns over people? >> i don't think so, and i don't think that any self-respecting republican is going to take on the moniker of guns over people. >> how about the unself-respecting like steve stockton -- >> i do know this, chris. i appreciate both sides of this argument, which is why it's timely. let's just put it -- >> you appreciate the argument you need a gun to protect yourself from the government? >> i do appreciate that to a certain extent, sure. i understand where it comes from, and so that's a lot of this conversation has now gotten off track. i think the party has an opportunity working with their constituent groups out there to get it back on track so, as that gentleman just said, what our issues are, they can be addressed in due course. and right now a lot of people feel this is not where this is going to go. see where the president comes out tomorrow with his list, and that's when the conversation really begins. >> let's make a prediction. governor rendell, will president obama come out for an assault weapons ban as part of his package tomorrow? >> yes. >> will he? >> yes. you have got to go big, and, look, even if the assault weapons ban goes down, he can still get the ban on high capacity magazines and 100% background checks. those are tremendous victories. i'm not sure the assault weapons ban will go down. everyone is acting like it's dead in the water, and harry reid, hey, let's man up and try to do the right thing. we may surprise ourselves. >> don't be a wuss, right? >> right. don't be a wuss. >> i think they -- my thought, you can't have reaction to what happened up in connecticut without dealing with the weapon used, the bushmaster. >> absolutely. >> unless that's on your hit list of weapons you want to keep from the crazies at least. and maybe keep off the streets, period. >> and, again, i think you're right there. that's going to be part of where the conversation is going to go from here on out. >> you have to go after the weapon used in the case. thank you, governor rendell and michael steele. president obama's next battle with congress may have just gotten a bit easier. chuck schumer, a leader in the senate, has given his stamp of approval for chuck hagel as the next secretary of defense. hagel's nomination is another example we think here at "hardball" of obama's newfound fighting spirit, and we like it, of course. from the debt ceiling to the nra to the neocons. taking them on. the president is sticking it to his opponents, and he's winning. and the house of representatives is voting on a relief package for the victims of superstorm sandy. will republicans stand up to help those hit by the storm? or stand in the way? let me finish with a republican party that's beginning to sound and look like a pack of moonshiners. they don't like those revenuers. this is "hardball," the place for politics. with the spark cash card from capital one, sven gets great rewards for his small business! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve great rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. next monday president obama will be sworn into office for his second presidential term, and we continue our look back at great inaugural moments. here is the first president who was born in the 20th century, john f. kennedy. >> let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of americans born in this century, tempered by war disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the small undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. >> wow. later in that speech jfk said another of his most famous lines, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. it's a line he paraphrased from george st. john, the headmaster at his prep school. i learned that nugget while researching for my book, "jack kennedy, elusive hero." which is still on "the new york times" best seller list. 19 weeks. we'll be right back. mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.