President Obama continued his public campaign for an immigration reform bill Monday with a speech in San Francisco. During his remarks, Obama engaged with an audience member who interrupted him to call for an end to deportations. What made it unusual was this young man was one of the people who was chosen to stand behind Obama, so he was almost on mic. Obama turned around to address him directly.

Ju Hong: “Mr. President, please use your executive order to halt deportations for all 11.5 undocumented immigrants in this country right now. We agree that we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform at the same time. You have a power to stop deportations for all undocumented families in this country.”

President Obama: “Actually, I don’t. And that’s why we’re here. … The easy way out is to try to yell and pretend like I can do something by violating our laws. And what I’m proposing is the harder path, which is to use our democratic processes to achieve the same goal that you want to achieve. But it won’t be as easy as just shouting. It requires us lobbying and getting it done.”

Obama’s comments come days after House Speaker John Boehner ruled out a House vote on immigration reform before the end of the year. In one of several actions nationwide, activists are now in the third week of a “Fast for Families” encampment on the National Mall. Participants are on a hunger strike in a bid to pressure Congress to pass reform.