Obama: Health care law constitutional

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama offered a firm defense of his health care law, saying yesterday he remains confident that the law will be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and warning that "unelected" justices should not overturn the will of Congress.

"We are confident that this will be upheld because it should be upheld," Obama said during a joint news conference with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. Obama said bluntly: "It's constitutional."

Obama's assessment came a week after the health care law pushed by his administration faced skepticism from conservative justices during three days of oral arguments, raising questions over whether the president's signature accomplishment will remain intact.

"I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress," Obama said. "I'd just remind conservative commentators that for years what we've heard is the biggest problem on the bench is judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint."

Meanwhile, Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed a new effort to boost North American trade -- and cut needless regulation that stifles it -- in a summit that aimed to shore up a fragile economic recovery.

After a one-day summit, Obama said the United States has trimmed outdated and burdensome rules in talks with both its neighbors, but all three countries will go beyond that.

"Our three nations are going to sit down together, go through the books and simplify and eliminate more regulations that will make our joint economies stronger," he said. Obama said trade among the neighbors tops $1 trillion a year, and he wants to see that number rise. "This is going to help create jobs," he said.

The summit ranged broadly across issues of energy and climate change, immigration and the war on drugs.

Obama warned that the level of violence in Mexico could have a "deteriorating effect" on U.S.-Mexican relations, but credited Calderón for his efforts to curb the violence.

He said his administration has worked to stop illegal gun trading and recognizes the impact that the violence is having on those inside Mexico. When you have "innocent families and women and children" who are being killed, "that should be everybody's problem," he said.