this week on the journal editorial report, president obama reacts to the democrat's midterm rout by moving left and ramping up the rule by regulation, we'll preview the coming confrontations with the new congress. plus, the supreme court takes up another obamacare challenge as one of the law's chief architects sparks outrage with controversial comments. tensions rise as russian troops and tanks pour over the ukraine border. what is vladimir putin's next move? ♪ >> welcome to "the journal

editorial report." if there was any question about what president obama's response to the midterm rout would be, it was answered this week with the administration making it clear that it's moving left and ramming up its rule by regulation. from a china climate deal to imminent executive action on immigration, the president and his party seem to be set on a collision course with a new republican congress. so how should the gop respond? let's ask wall street journal columnist and deputy editor dan henninger, james freeman and washington column iflt, kim straussel, kim, most presidents who take a beating in the midterm election, either sound contriteor move to the middle or both. what is the white house calculation and so directly confronting congress in so many areas? >> i think the argument here that the prtd has taken on is that he believes that they didn't lose this election

because the voting public disapproved of them. they lost it because they didn't turn out the base and didn't do enough to energize their side. he's doing climate environmental issues, he's going to do immigration to talk to hispanics and rally up his base and get them on board in the path to 2016. they don't think that o bam ma's popularity was at all an issue, what the president put it in the compressed conference to the two thirds of the public who didn't vote, i heard you and we're going to mobilize those for next time. they do that by saying to the republican congress, we don't care what you do, i am going to do what i want to do. >> the republicans didn't win because people approve the republican policies, we just had a bad night. >> that was a bad night all right. okay, all right.

>> they are delusional. colorado, a state we talked about a lot on this show, senator mark udall ran on climate change and war on women. he was not a bad kand date, pressed the message very hard and he lost because cory gardner talked about other things like benefits from energy and the economy. it's not as though the message did not get out. in these elections, they lost. as kim is suggesting, they now think it's because their base didn't vote. >> one of the early new regulations, executive order that may provide amnesty, stop deporting as many as 6 million people. we'll have to wait to see the details. what's the president aets calculation here ? in my view it makes it hard to get any durable reform out of the congress. >> depending on whether you think it's delusional or

cynical. if the calculation is that we've got to get the minority turnout and get hispanic turnout, lead the democrats back to where it was in previous years. the calculation is so what if i could get a deal and solve the immigration deal with the republicans, the better play politically is to start the fight with the constitutionally dubious move that forces them into an argument where they once again sound like the anti-immigrant party. other than that cynical political calculation, i don't see how anyone could think this is the right move. >> it doesn't solve the immigration problems, what is the incentive for coming over. but then go back based on labor demand. they are not solving the problem for agricultural workers or problem for high tech workers or engineering or science degrees. >> the leadership have said every way they know how, a lot

of those things can get done, not necessarily in a big deal but piecemeal, they can get all of the votes to get reforms but he doesn't want the solution. >> looks like he's going to be sewing chaos -- that might not be too strong a word in the republican ranks as they are divided with some people saying let's use the power of the purse to cut off funds for it, which could potentially lead to a shutdown. how do you think the republicans will respond and what should they do? >> i'm in the cynicism camp of james. this is why he did it, to divide them. >> you weren't cynical before you went to washington. >> it's your fault, paul, you sent me down here. but they are going to have to -- that's the most important thing what you just said, they have to retain unity in the party and have a strategy for going forward. the best thing they can do is go out and criticize this as extra legal authority, talk about as you just did the fact it is not solving the problem in fact for

hispanics. and then get to work on an actual immigration law. maybe done in a piecemeal fashion and send it to him that does solve the problems and dare him to not accept what they've sent him. >> i don't have a lot of confidence that the republicans are going to act like that but we also have the democrats basically reelecting their leadership and harry reid in the senate. >> and bringing elizabeth warren into the leadership. >> the popular senator who doesn't like banks -- >> but she is a tremendous fundraiser for the party and a lot of this is going to be about raising political money. if the republicans react and go nuts, then they are going to say to the base, accepted us money to drive them out. >> will the keystone pipeline vote currently discovered an urgent need to have after blocking it for two or four years, will that save mary landrieu? >> i doubt it. it sounds like we'll get a veto out of the white house, the president dismissing it as

canadian i'll is an absurd -- >> especially since it will carry north dakota oil too. >> still ahead, it's back, obamacare, returns to the headlines as supreme court agrees to hear a fresh challenge to a key part of the controversial law. and its chief architect tells the truth of the view of the american voter. patented sonic technology with up to 27% more brush movements. get healthier gums in two weeks. innovation and you philips sonicare save when you give philips sonicare this holiday season.

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professor and obamacare architect suggesting that liberal deception and voter stupidity were key to the law's passage. here's one of his comments. >> this bill was written in a tortured way to make sure they did not secure the mandate of taxes and law that said healthy people would pay in and sick people would get money, it would not pass. lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. call it the stupidity of the american voter or whatever but that was really critical to getting the thing to pass. >> we're back with dan henninger and james freeman and joe rago also joins the panel. you can be cynical but you just can't keep up -- no matter how cynical you get, you can keep your policy if you like it. you can keep your doctor if you like it. it will reduce costs. not a tax. and it will reduce the budget deficit. all promises on which this law was sold, all false.

we knew that though. okay, at least those of us condemned to follow this on a daily basis knew this. what importance politically are these grubber admissions going to provide? >> nobody likes being called stupid, which is part of the reason these comments have gotten so much attention. but i think the real reason is that he's being candid about what the law does. he's saying there are all kinds of higher taxes, liberal policies for redistribution, for example, embedded in insurance after obama care. he's talking about it openly and people are starting to notice. -- all hail the honest man. >> we said this all along. he sounds like he writes for the wall street journal editorial page. >> the enrollment period is starting again this weekend. this remark has gotten wide publicity, the average person is thinking of signing up for the coverage of this must wonder whether they are stupid to do so. it's created a lot of doubts in

people's minds and especially now that you've gotten the supreme court agreeing to take a care over the constitutionality of the exchanges. that has also thrown the future of the law into doubt for a while. this thing is really going to be treading water now for at least six months until the court decides the case. >> those voters that he's celebrating how he fooled them, a lot of them didn't buy it. they put scott brown in ted kennedy's old senate seat and gave the house to republicans in a historic sweep right after the law was passed. it is amazing to think how unpopular this would have been if the marketers had told the truth about it. >> they always thought the popularity of this would turn around once the subsidies kicked in. that hasn't happened, well over 50% of the public doesn't like the law. it challenges the subsidies through the federal exchange because it looks to statute and

those established by the states. what -- how important is this case and could it up-end the law? >> it's very important. unlike the previous health care cases over the individual mandate too buy health insurance or pay a penalty. there's no real constitutional issue here. >> this is statutory black letter law interpretation. >> it's straight statutory interpretation, conventional statutory interpretation. the real importance of this case, if they vacant the subsidies with with a federal exchange, it throws the law back into congress and reopens the debate and republicans can say, look, we want to help you fix this problem but we also want to fix all of these other problems caused by the law you passed. >> you went dough what the supreme court will do. one of my judicial legal sources says that probably about a 75%

chance they will overturn the federal exchange subsidies, justice roberts and kennedy being the two swing votes as usual. >> i think what we're going to see something here paul, it's going to get really ugly. there's going to be an unprecedented attempt to intimidate the justices on the court. example, the new republic magazine had a headline that said, supreme court is now a death panel. what that means is if they rule against the law, a lot of people are not going to have access to insurance and they'll die. that's the sort of tenor that is going to be pushed at the court. >> was that the republican or new york magazine. >> i believe it was the new republic -- >> i think that's really the significance of these gruber comments, that this is basically pretty clear in the law that the administration should lose, the subsidies should not go to these exchanges. but the question has been kennedy and roberts again do they have the will to withstand political pressure and that political pressure, that campaign against them to get

them to bend to the administration's will just got a lot tougher with the architect of the law basically admitting they lied to push it through. >> how should republican respond? >> i think they've got a few options, they should say, look, we've got our own plan. it involves tax deductions. we're going to pass it. obama is probably not going to sign it because it's a threat to his political control. and after that, they've got to respond to the people who are potentially losing subsidies after that i think they should be reasonable. say liberalize the exchanges and so forth. >> okay, all right, thanks, joe. >> when we come back, fears rise as russian troops and military equipment seen streaming over the ukraine border. what is vladimir putin preparing for and how will the west respond? okay, call me crazy,

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russian equipment, primarily russian tanks and artillery and air defense systems and combat troops entering into ukraine. forces, money, support, supplies, weapons are flowing back and forth across this border completely at will. and that is not a good situation. >> nato supreme court allied commander general phillip confirming that russian military equipment and combat troops have been seen streaming across the border into eastern ukraine in recent days and they fear a buildup ahead of a renewed military action and end to the two-month old cease fire agreement.

matt kaminski joins us, follower of all things offortunately. >> keeps you employed. >> putin is back on the war track. that's very clear. what really changed the last two months, since they signed the cease fire in early september is that he was very upseptember by the outcome of the elections in ukraine, which saw a sweep by pro western parties and a bit frustrated that he can't get the europeans divided to give up on sanctions, okay, i'm going to get back and rearm these guys in eastern ukraine and looking to push toward by crimea, either very soon or may have to wait until next spring when the weather gets better. >> he wants to keep the land bridge or establish a land bridge from russian proper all the way across to crimea, so they don't have to reinforce crimea by air. more importantly, he is building up a kind of armed fortress,

operating base in the east that will be in constant threat to this new pro-western government in ukraine itself. >> i assume, dan, his conclusion is with u.s. and europe will lack the will to respond forcefully enough. >> he especially since he invad european space four times and think they have submarines in the water. they just reported the lowest rate of growth since the year 2000. the ruble is at 11-year low. they have been experiencing capital plight there. he's got real problems at home which probably makes even more dangerous, he has to figure out a way to take the minds of russian people off their own problems and concentrate on the slights -- >> falling oil prices, a huge chunk of russian budget revenue. if the u.s. and europe did unite to really increase sanctions and put the pressure on. how would that affect putin's

mentality? >> i think there's a danger here of the cornered rat syndrome. he may be actually more dangerous because he is feeling a bit desperate. he also is not a man whose very flexible. >> wouldn't it increase -- wouldn't it increase the domestic pressure on putin? if the economy is in recession and you get inflation because of the ruble falls, which you will and are already, you're in capital flight. that's going to hurt the investment and economy. won't that hurt his approval rating domestically? >> the way the political system works in russia, he's neutralized the more independent players both in business and in politics either put in jail or forced in exile. he's now relying on a circle of the security services, military and kgb. i think he can suffer through a lot of pain because this -- being the war president in russia, he's decided is the way his regime survived. >> the other thing is from the west that we could do is arming ukraine, the senate foreign relations committee voted 18-0

recently to send lethal arms to ukraine. president obama doesn't support that strategy. is this something that congress should force on president obama to pass it and decide if he wants to veto it? >> they should. the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine said we should give them at least anti-tank weapons to fight back against the tanks rolling into the country. obama won't do it but the senate should convey that. >> do you think they will? >> i think they'll pass it, they should also fund it. but i think obama seems very dead set on not going down the road. >> i think putin has concluded that president obama is a historically weak president and i thenk he'll try to take advantage of that as much as he can. watch out the rest of eastern europe and baltic. our hits and misses of the week when we come back.

kim, start us off. >> hit for americans for prosperity, the outside conservative group that's fresh off electing a whole bunch of republicans already back up on air with $200,000 worth of ads in republican districts pressuring them to do the right thing in an upcoming tax debate. wanting republicans to final a allow the death of the wind production tax credit, good to see them trying to keep new members honest to promises of small government. >> free market principles. joe, this week bill de blasio said anyone found traveling with 25 grams of pot, of marijuana, will not be arrested but receive a ticket instead. as i can see in the video, that's a small garbage bag full

of marijuana. i guess this was a hit were but i wonder about the impact on the role of law and it's a good thing i only travel with 24 grams. >> i don't know where to begin with that. it's not true. audience. matt? >> there's a hit to i guess the human race, which this week managed to send a space ship to the european space agency which sent ten years ago a space ship called rosetta that tracked a comet and landed a small probe on a comet traveling 120 miles an hour into deep space. we should be able to do better on a lot of things if we can do that. >> and maybe even revive european innovation. >> absolutely. >> and self-confidence. >> they are doing well on that -- in this field.

>> all right, thanks to you all. if you have your own hit or miss, be sure to tweet it to us at fox news.com. that's it for this week's show. thanks to all of you for watching. see you right here next week. i'm paul gigot. we start with a fox news alert, the second phase of obamakaren rollment is under way, promising a smoother operation after all of those problems last year. today we're hearing about insurance premiums zooming up and possible gaps in coverage for those who have already signed up. hello, welcome to "america's news headquarters. >> starting today, millions of people will get another shot to enroll in health care through the government's change but the headline of a new enrollment period may be overshadowed by an even bigger one. americans who have already bought into obama care could face a big increase