President Barack Obama says he plans to push to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility during his final two years in office -- potentially fulfilling a major campaign promise that he has n't yet accomplished . `` I 'm going to be doing everything I can to close it , '' Obama said in an interview with CNN 's Candy Crowley that aired Sunday on `` State of the Union . '' `` It is something that continues to inspire jihadists and extremists around the world , the fact that these folks are being held , '' Obama said . `` It is contrary to our values . '' Related : Obama calls alleged North Korea hacking vandalism , not war . The President 's comments follow a flurry of executive action at the start of what he called his `` fourth quarter '' in the Oval Office -- after Republicans walloped Democrats in November 's midterm elections , taking control of both houses of Congress . After the election , Obama quickly announced an overhaul of U.S. immigration rules and new regulations aimed at curbing environmentally-harmful emissions . He followed those moves this week with a deal that represented the biggest steps to thaw the economic freeze with Cuba in decades . The Guantanamo Bay , Cuba detention facility -- which Obama pledged to shut down as part of his 2008 campaign , but saw his plans thwarted when Congress passed a law prohibiting him from doing so -- could be another target ripe for executive action . Obama 's year-end message : North Korea Cuba and Congress . Obama has transferred many of the detainees housed at that facility to other countries in recent months , and said Friday he 'll continue trying to do that , since Congress wo n't allow him to shift those detainees into federal Supermax facilities within the United States . `` We are going to continue to place those who have been cleared for release or transfer to host countries that are willing to take them , '' Obama told Crowley . Related : Guantanamo detainees release . The toughest challenge , he said , is dealing with `` some really hard cases '' in which `` we know they 've done something wrong and are still dangerous . '' Still , Obama said , he wants to shut the facility down . `` I think that it does not make sense for us to spend millions of dollars per individual when we have a way of solving this problem that 's more consistent with our values , '' he said . More from Candy Crowley 's interview with President Obama : . Obama says hacking is act of 'cybervandalism , ' not war . Related : Obama says he 's not being `` rolled '' by Putin .
President Obama promised during his campaign in 2008 to close the military prison in Cuba . But he has been unable to deliver in the face of opposition on Capitol Hill . He said he still hopes to fulfill one of his first promises as president .