President Barack Obama says he plans to fulfill his constitutional responsibility and nominate a successor to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
In a direct rebuttal to Senate Republicans, Obama says there is plenty of time for the Senate to confirm his choice. Some Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, say the decision should rest with the next president in January 2017.
Obama pointedly calls the decision "bigger than any one party." He says it is about democracy.
Obama is praising the late justice as a brilliant legal mind who influenced generation of lawyers and students.
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7 p.m.:
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death has quickly sparked a heated debate over whether President Barack Obama should nominate a replacement.
The leader of the Senate, Republican Mitch McConnell, says the nomination should fall to the next president. The Republican-led Senate would confirm any nominee by Obama.
Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio also say Obama should hold off on a nomination.
Democrats immediately raised objections. The Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid, says it would be "unprecedented in recent history" for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacancy and urged Obama to send the Senate a nominee right away.
Leaders in both parties are likely to use the vacancy to implore voters to nominate presidential candidates with the best chance of winning in November's general election.
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6:55 p.m.:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the Supreme Court vacancy created by the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia should not be filled until a new president takes office.
In a statement Saturday, McConnell mourned Scalia, calling him an "unwavering champion of a timeless document that unites each of us as Americans" - the Constitution. He offered condolences to the Scalia family.
The leader of the Republican-controlled Senate sent a clear message to President Barack Obama that if he nominates a successor to Scalia, that individual is unlikely to win Senate confirmation.
McConnell says the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next justice, and the vacancy should not be filled until after a new president takes office in January 2017.
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6:50 p.m.
Antonin Scalia, the influential conservative and most provocative member of the Supreme Court, has died. He was 79.
The U.S. Marshals Service in Washington confirmed Scalia's death at a private residence in the Big Bend area of West Texas.
The service's spokeswoman, Donna Sellers, says Scalia had retired for the evening and was found dead Saturday morning when he did not appear for breakfast.