We've heard that President Obama once told Democrats concerned about ObamaCare's unpopularity that they shouldn't worry because they had him as some kind of a political firewall.  

So much for that firewall!  The Democrats lost the House in 2010, and 28 U.S. senators who voted for ObamaCare are gone.

He is once again misjudging public opinion for two big reasons.

First, it's true that most Americans generally favor immigration reform.  But that's not what President Obama just did, as John Podhoretz wrote:

The White House is banking on the fact that majorities in the polls support more open immigration policies than the Republican party does.

But what’s interesting to me is that those polls suggest the American people believe in setting up a “path to citizenship.” 

This new policy is not that.

Instead, it creates a new kind of status for people who have been here illegally for more than five years.

The two are very far from the same thing, and there’s a very real question whether this new system will seem a fair process to the American people or rather an arbitrary act of line-drawing.

Nor is there any real support for the president’s deep conviction that, in general, the public is with him, the source of his bizarre evident certainty that the two-thirds of the American voting population that did not vote is on his side.

In fact, polling after the election suggests the American people want policy in general to be set by Congress rather than Obama, and it’s not even close; in Gallup, the pro-GOP margin is 17 points. 

On another point, President Obama is deeply ignorant (or tone-deaf) of U.S. history, as Fred Barnes wrote:

On an issue that affects many millions of Americans, it’s best—even necessary—to have bipartisan support in Congress.

Going forward in a purely partisan fashion is bound to cause national discord, increase polarization, and heighten distrust in Washington.

Worse still, it means the issue will be controversial for years to come. 

What did our tone-deaf president just do?  He went against public opinion and legalized 5 million people without Congress.  You can get away with that in an emergency, but not over this.

The whole thing will blow up in his face.  

First, there is a good chance that a court will reverse it.  

Second, and here is the wild card that few are talking about, there is a good chance of another "people surge" at the U.S.-Mexico border.   

Why is this president so tone-deaf?  He has a high opinion of himself.  And he is surrounded by people who don't challenge him.  The net result is the kind of political tone-deafness that we've seen and continue to see.

P.S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr-