Obama takes immigration reform talks on the road

>>> traveling to las vegas to talk about immigration reform , president obama 's trip comes after a group of bipartisan senators unveiled their plan for dealing with the roughly 11 million undocumented people living here in the united states . nbc's white house correspondent kristen welker has more on that.

>> reporter: president obama will give new details to the policies he first map ped out two years ago and will call on congress to pass an immigration reform bill quickly. president obama , putting the spotlight on immigration reform today. a campaign promise echoed in his inaugural address .

>> our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see america as a land of opportunity.

>> reporter: the president turning up the heat on congress, by taking his case to nevada, where latinos make up 27% of the population. luis baraljas will be in the audience, working to gain citizenship.

>> we need to feel free in this country. freedom is what this country presumes to be.

>> reporter: remarks today will mirror the speech he gave two years ago in el paso , texas, calling for stronger border security and a path to citizenship.

>> being a nation of laws goes hand in hand with being a nation of immigrants.

>> reporter: white house officials are praising the proposals of a bipartisan grooch s group of senators announced monday. lawmakers saying now is the time to tackle immigration.

>> we have been too content for too long to allow individuals to mow our lawn, serve our food, clean our homes and even watch our children while not affording them any of the benefits that make our country so great.

>> reporter: the plan would require undocumented immigrants seeking a green card and eventually citizenship to register with the federal government , pay fines and back taxes, undergo criminal background checks and learn english, but all that contingent on border security being strengthened.

>> we also have to ensure that we do nothing that encourages people to come here illegally in the future.

>> th we believe this will be the year congress finally gets it done.

>> reporter: with the power of hispanic voters growing rapidly, the politics are right.

>> the fact that at least in washington both parties can get together to present a framework of something that could finally deal with all the different aspects of immigration is really a big step forward.

>> reporter: for years, washington has tried to pass immigration reform and failed and there's no guarantee that lawmakers would be successful this time around. for one, the president's plan is expected to differ with the senate in some key areas, and there is still a lot of opposition in congress to many of these proposals being discussed. matt?

>> kristen welker at the white