President Obama has lately admonished Republicans for refusing to put down their political swords and failing to come together with their friends across the aisle to find some compromise and see some action on the legislative agenda. Bipartisanship, cooperation, and the ability to put the next election aside are the height of political virtue, we’re to believe — which explains why the White House approached Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio to work together with him on his widely-known modified-DREAM Act endeavor, and he and President Obama presented it as a joint effort to effect real change that might have a shot at passing through our checks-and-balances system of governance.

Just kidding. That didn’t happen. Obama didn’t try to co-sponsor the idea with Rubio, but just presented his own version of Rubio’s plan as an extension of executive fiat rather than working with Congress to get things done.

After Obama’s Friday announcement that his Department of Homeland Security will “shift policy” to stop the deportations of young “non-criminal” illegal immigrants and instead grant them work permits to allow them to remain in the country legally, Sen. Rubio had cause for puzzlement.

ABC “World News” weekend anchor David Muir was with Senator Marco Rubio and his wife Jeanette at their Miami home on Friday when Rubio learned of the Obama Administration’s immigration policy change. Rubio told Muir: “The White House never called us about this no one reached out to us and told us this was on its way. And, I mean, if they were serious about a real solution to this problem and not politicizing it then why don’t you reach out to people? We’re trying to work out a real solution.”

As much as the Obama administration/campaign is insisting that Friday’s announcement was absolutely, totally, positvely not a “political move” in any way (methinks thou doth protest too much), President Obama really couldn’t afford to let it appear as if anyone in the Republican ranks (especially not the well-known tea-party rockstar of Cuban heritage) was taking initiative on the issue — they needed all that glory for themselves, hence the attempt to skirt around Congress.

Parting thought from Mitt Romney:

He also said on CBS‘ “Face the Nation” program that Mr. Obama’s move was all about politics.

“The timing is pretty clear,” Mr. Romney said. “If he really wanted to make a solution that dealt with these children or with illegal immigration in America, then this is something he would have taken up in his first 3½ years, not in his last few months.”

Indeed, for three years Mr. Obama and Ms. Napolitano have denied they had the authority they exercised Friday. They were even asked point-blank whether they had executive authority to halt deportations for students who would have been eligible for the Dream Act, and they said no.