White House Stands Ground On High Court Criticism

"Under the ruling of the Supreme Court, any lobbyist could go in to any legislator and say, 'If you don't vote our way on this bill, we're going to run a million-dollar campaign against you in your district.' And that is a threat to our democracy," Axelrod said. "It's going to further reduce the voice of the American people, and it's something we have to push back vigorously on."

Chief Justice John Roberts said this week that Obama's unusually open criticism was "very troubling" and questioned whether justices should attend the annual address.

"To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I'm not sure why we're there," said Roberts, a nominee of Republican President George W. Bush who joined the court in 2005.

Roberts said anyone is free to criticize the court and that some have an obligation to do so because of their positions.

"So I have no problems with that," he said. "On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court, according the requirements of protocol, has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling."

Breaking from tradition, Obama used his January speech to criticize the court's recent decision allowing corporations and unions to freely spend money on political ads for or against specific candidates.

"With all due deference to the separation of powers, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests -- including foreign corporations -- to spend without limit in our elections," Obama said.

Justice Samuel Alito was the only justice to respond at the time, shaking his head and appearing to say, "not true," as Obama continued.

Gibbs defended Obama's remarks, as he has already.

"What's important is that, in the coming elections, the Supreme Court has basically ruled that anonymous political contributions can be given, and those contributions can be used to weigh in specifically for the election or defeat of a member of Congress or a senator," he said.

Axelrod spoke on ABC's "This Week," and Gibbs appeared to "Fox News Sunday."