KING: Conservatives tonight are accusing the Obama White House of providing backdoor amnesty to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants. At issue is a dramatic change in how the administration will prioritize deportation proceedings. The new policy will halt those proceedings against illegal immigrants who are deemed to pose no threat to national security or to public safety.

Included in this group are thousands of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States when they were young children. You might remember late last year, the president and Democratic allies in Congress tried to protect this group by passing the so-called DREAM Act arguing those brought here with small children should not be punished for the illegal acts of their parents. But the legislation stalled in Congress.

And now, critics say the administration is using its executive powers to sidestep the legislative branch.

Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer suggests the president is abusing his executive power and needs to be reminded he is not a king above the law.

Governor Brewer with us tonight from Phoenix.

Governor, the administration says it needs to prioritize, that the deportation proceedings, the courts, are backlogged and that 79 percent of these people who would be affected by this new policy have done nothing wrong, no criminal record, no threat to public safety. So, why not set them aside and deal first with the people who do pose a threat.

GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: Well, we're a country of laws. We believe in the rule of law, John. And the bottom line is, is that they are illegal aliens entering our country. And we simply cannot sustain that kind of activity.

Bottom line is it's a backdoor to amnesty and I don't believe the American people support that.

KING: Should it just be, then, if you get caught, you go into court and you're rounded up? Or should there be some prioritization in the sense that some of these people served in the military, some of them are primary caretaker, some of them might be attending college or university in the United States and have done nothing wrong except maybe get stopped for a traffic stop or something like that?

BREWER: For him to declare by executive fiat, if you will, that he and he alone is going to give amnesty to hundreds of thousands of people, something's wrong. It's terribly wrong. And I don't think the American public -- the American people are going to stand for it.

KING: So, are you more upset with the process, that the Congress last year wouldn't pass this, therefore the president is using his executive power? Or are you more upset with that, or you're more upset with the fact that the president is saying, look, if you're faced with a backlog system, a clogged court system, his point, they say, is they would rather deport -- prosecute and then deport somebody who poses a public safety risk as opposed to prosecuting and deporting someone who at the age of one or two or three was carried across the border by her parents and had nothing to do with it?

BREWER: Well, John, you know, we have a problem and we -- a real problem. Bottom line is that they are doing illegal things. And he, as president of the United States of America was elected to act like the president. And to work with Congress who is the body that -- not enforces, but writes the laws of which we're supposed to follow representative government. The president doesn't have the authority to override Congress. And if I were in Congress, I would be highly assaulted with his attempts of doing this in this manner.

It's a backdoor to amnesty.

And last month, I believe it was, he spoke to the National La Raza Association saying, I believe, and I can't quote totally, saying that he was tempted to do it by executive order, but that shouldn't be done because that wasn't the democracy of what America was founded on.

So, he knows the difference. He's made the statement. He's on record. He knows exactly what he's done.

And I believe that the American people agree with me that he ought not to be doing this and that we ought to enforce the rule of law in America.

KING: As you know, a lot of those organizations you mentioned, La Raza, a lot of Latino Hispanic organizations, have been very critical of this president, saying he promised to deal with comprehensive immigration reform in his first year and he hasn't done so. They believe that he should have done more to get the DREAM Act passed.

Do you see this as a policy decision by the president or do you see this as 2012 is around the corner and many Latino groups are saying, Mr. President, do more or you can't country on our votes?

BREWER: I think exactly the latter. I think that, of course, he's playing politics. He wants that Hispanic vote. And he's looking towards 2012.

But I think it's going to boomerang on him. I believe that all legal citizens in America understand that we all play by the rules -- the rule of law.

KING: Governor Jan Brewer, appreciate your time tonight.