Obama: US Following Legal Channels to Find Snowden

President Barack Obama said at the beginning of a meeting Monday to discuss immigration reform with business leaders that the United States is "following all appropriate legal channels" as it tries to extradite Edward Snowden, The Hill reports.

"What we know is that we're following all the appropriate legal channels and working with various other countries to make sure that the rule of law is observed," Obama said.

"And beyond that, I'll refer to the Justice Department that has been actively involved in the case," he added.

The United States has filed espionage charges against Snowden, who was working as a contractor for the National Security Agency when he disclosed the NSA secret surveillance practices via the British Guardian newspaper, unleashing a major scandal around the world.

He is currently believed to be in Russia after he was allowed to leave Hong Kong despite the extradition request from the United States.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday, that China's dismissal of the request will hurt the relationship between it and the United States.

"We are just not buying that this was a technical decision by a Hong Kong immigration official," Carney said. "This was a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive, despite a valid arrest warrant. And that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the U.S.-China relationship."