President Barack Obama is keeping the pressure on Congress to pass at least part of his jobs plan that recently failed in the Senate.

"What we're going to do is break up my jobs bill," Obama said Monday in North Carolina. "Maybe they couldn't understand the whole thing at once. We're going to break it up into bite-sized pieces."

Obama is pitching a $35 billion proposal of aid to states. Spokesman Jay Carney said the White House anticipates action "very soon."

This week the president started his three-day bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia. Obama won both states in 2008, but winning them again in 2012 will be a challenge.

The White House has said the tour is not a campaign trip, but Republicans disagree.

"We want the president to work with us. We want him to stop campaigning," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said.

Analyst predict the the bill, even in parts, will face a vote-blocking filibuster in the Senate.