The President makes remarks outside the White House following a meeting with the Colombia President, defends the government’s bailout of Wall Street.

“My first instinct wasn’t to lay out a huge government plan. My first instinct was to let the market work. Until I realized when being briefed by the experts how significant the problem has become. So I decided to act and act boldly.”

The Bush administration is asking Congress to let the government buy $700 billion in troubled mortgages, according to a draft of the plan.